~Playlist: "Free the Animal" by Sia~

"The pressure's rising I won't make it through tonight"

Willow's POV

I laugh in the darkness.

It swirls around me, covering me up like a blanket. It's familiar and comforting. Everything is blissfully dark.

Except for the bands of fire wrapped around my wrists.

They're enough to render me helpless, enough to keep me trapped. For the first hour, all I did was scream and shout and struggle. But I'm wiser now. Wise enough to lay in the dark, accepting my defeat.

When they kill me, I hope my black blood is enough to show them what I was all along. If they don't already know.

Another laugh forces it's way out of my throat. I lay there, watching the flames dance on my wrists. They don't burn me, but then again, I doubt Daphne has the stomach to torture prisoners. I may be the first prisoner they've ever taken. Maybe that's why no one has been down to see me.

I shiver, an effect of the loneliness more so than the cold. But even more frightening than the look of people is the weight in my blood. Though it doesn't show, I know that I'm reaching my maximum point. I can't be ignored for much longer.

My body shakes, no doubt from trying to find room for the monster-laced blood I carry. My back arches from the small bed for a second before lowering back down onto the worn cotton sheets. The fabric is soft on my arms and legs, a small distraction from the swelling of my veins.

The door cracks open, and Annabeth Chase looks at me.

"Hello, Annabeth," I say calmly, ignoring my pain. "Come to relish your victory?"

"It was hardly a victory." To my surprise, her voice is hallow and strained, as if she had been crying. "Beckendorf is dead."

"All victories come with sacrifices. Some are larger than others."

"What have you sacrificed?"

The question is a challenge, as if Annabeth is telling me her life is the hardest. I want to laugh. I want to lay myself bare, and let the genius examine all my broken pieces. I want to see the horror on her face as she sees who, and what, I really am.

But I don't.

My sacrifice wasn't a choice. It was an effect. A forced effect from my father's poorly thought out wish. And now I have to pay his price.

"Not all sacrifices are easy to see, Annabeth."

"Why do you do this? Why have you done everything you've done?"

I laugh. "That's like asking why do birds migrate. Instinct. I was born with it."

It's more true than she knows. I was born with a monster in my veins and head. And over time, that's morphed into myself as well. But there's still me, barely strong enough to fight it off.

"There's a monster inside me," I say before she can speak. My voice is small and covered with awe, as if I can't believe it.

"The monster is you," Annabeth says.

"That's where you're wrong, daughter of Athena. Tread carefully: this is war. Mistakes can cost lives."

She closes the door, and her footsteps fade away.

Good. I don't want to talk to her. Annabeth has brought me more trouble than I ever anticipated.

Free me.

I wince as the voice fills my head again. In the darkness, it's visited me more than I like. Especially as I reach my limit.

"No."

Free me!

An order, not a request.

"I'm in charge," I say softly. "This is my body."

But it's my blood.

"I am in control!" I insist, my voice rising from a whisper to a shout. "I am in charge! You're nothing but a ghost!"

No. I'm a monster. I'm you.

"I'm not a monster!" I shriek.

But it's too late. Already, the thought has settled into my mind. Jarring images fill my brain, all of them kaleidoscopes of memories. Luke's eyes filled with horror when he was eight, and my father showed him what I truly was. The first time I watched my father kill. The first time I killed. And all the times after that. Sometime, I was the one doing the killing, and other times, it was the monster inside me.

Power. That's all your father ever wanted. And he got you, a devastatingly beautiful girl with an unearthly power in her very veins. You should be grateful, Willow. You are the most powerful person in the world. At least, you will be, if you let me free. Set me free, Willow. Release me.

My blood turns, growing thicker and more by the second. I twist against my fiery bonds. Freedom is no longer a desire now: it is a need.

"No!" I scream, struggling to free myself. "No!"

But I am helpless. Just like I was with my father.

Your father. You've always been a pawn in his games, never getting the credit you deserve. He uses you for your power.

"A power you gave him!"

A power I gave you. He's just foolish enough to think it's his. But you've never been anyone's. You belong to nobody--except me.

"I belong to no one," I say, enunciating the words clearly.

You're mine.

I scream. I scream for someone to rescue me, for Annabeth to come back, for a knife, for something to let the monster drip away, droplet by droplet. I howl and shout and flail on the bed.

A door slams open, bright light flooding the room. I look up, expecting to see Annabeth through my pain-filled vision. A beautiful girl stands in the doorway, light fitting perfectly around her body, casting a halo-like glow around her.

But I don't pay attention to Piper McLean. No, I stare at the knife gripped in her hand.

"Why are you screaming?" she shouts over me.

I cease my screaming. "Please," I say, meeting her eyes. I'm no longer afraid or embarrassed to ask for help. "Help me."

Her lips turns upwards in disgust. "Help you? All you've done is hurt me, and my friends! Why would I help you?"

"Please," I beg again.

She won't help you. She can't help you because you're too far gone. You're already mine.

Her cautious eyes scan me hesitantly. For once, I don't hide anything behind a cold smile or sharp words. I let Piper see how broken and destroyed I am. Not because of anything they've done, but because of what I've done to myself.

Free me, Willow!

"Help me, Piper."

"How?" she asks, her hesitant mask crumbling to pieces.

"Your knife," I gasp out between waves of pain.

She recoils as if I burned her. "What? You're insane if you think I'm giving you my knife!"

Insane!

The voice is gleeful and mocking. I clench my teeth and try to block it out, but it's pointless.

See, Willow: Piper thinks you're insane. She won't help you. Free me.

"No, you can use it. Just please, cut me. Anywhere. Please."

"Why? What's happening?"

Release me. Let me destroy those who hold you captive. Let me fill you up with power I've only given you a hint of. Let me reduce all who go against you into ash and shadows. Free me.

"Cut my skin. Let the blood out."

My voice gets blocked in my own throat, and I choke on air that I can't reach. But I can still breathe through the monster inside me.

Leave. The voice in my head says.

"Leave," my traitorous tongue spits out. I struggle and fight inside my own body, but I'm not in control.

It's too late.

"Leave, or die," it continues speaking from my own mouth. "It's your choice."

"Willow?" Piper asks, her brows drifting towards each other in confusion. "What's happening to you?"

It laughs, the noise shuddering my bones. In its glee, I shove it away forcefully.

"Cut," I wheeze out. "Monster-"

It slams into me, sending me far down into the pits of my mind. I fight, but the monster is too strong.

It chuckles. "I'm free."

Piper's eyes adopt a gleaming look, more fiery than my bonds. Quick as a viper, she darts across the room, her knife extended.

And slashes my arm.

Black blood oozes out, relief descending upon me as it trickles away. I gasp in relief, and then gasp again in surprise. I'm in control again.

The monster fades back inside me, but it's still there, too strong. A thin membrane of human, of me, keeps it from fully overtaking me. But it's not enough.

"Another," I rasp out. "Other arm."

Confused, Piper does as I say. The noise that comes from my mouth is animalistic.

"What was that?" she asks. "What happened?"

"Daphne," I say. My voice is hallow and frail. "Bring Daphne. Tell her I'm ready to explain. Everything."

Author's Note
I think Willow is my favorite POV to write in.

Apparently "The Demigod Selection" has reached 100k views. What?! That's crazy, you guys. That's actually crazy.

I want to do something to celebrate, but I don't have any ideas. If you have a suggestion, please comment or PM me.

Hopefully more updates will be on the way since I've finished the first half of my exams (the second half comes mid-June). I'll be updating this book, "The Last Petal", and "United We Fall" (which is my new crime book with teenage criminals) like crazy. As always, thanks for reading!