There was a hush; at that moment, it seemed like the trees stopped rustling, the birds stopped whistling—sound itself just ceased to exist.

And before Neve could do a thing about it, black was rushing toward her. She shrieked as a tremendous force hit her in the face, pain exploding in her right eye. It sent her falling to her bed, the pain steadily increasing. She wailed as the torture continued, feeling like someone was stabbing her in the eye.

She wanted to hold her eye, to do something to at least lessen the pain, but she could barely move, the agony becoming worse when she did. Finally, the pain dwindled, now only a dull throb in her eye. She groaned and sat up. What the hell had that been? Had that thing jumped inside of her eye? And if it had, what was it doing in there? A feeling of revulsion made itself known in her stomach. She hastily rose and ran into the hallway bathroom, puking her guts out.

Oh, God, she thought, staring into the toilet. What the hell is that?

It was black. The urge to vomit came back, but this time she held it back. Who knew what would come out if she did it again? Cringing from the disgust she felt, Neve stood up and went to the mirror. She instantly spotted what was wrong. Her right eye's color was dark than her left. No, it was completely black, as opposed to its usual dark blue.

Her examination was cut off by a flare of pain in her eyes. She put her hands against the counter to regain some sort of control, but the hurt came stronger and faster. She screeched, swaying on her feet, her vision darkening. Pressing one hand to her right eye, she stared at the sink. Just a second ago, before the pain came, it had been a pristine white, but now it had a dusky hue to it.

She let out a sob, shutting her eyes. What was going on? Why was this happening? When she reopened her eyes and saw the sink, she gasped. Black liquid was dripping onto it. But from where? She haltingly removed her hand from her eye and was held speechless. There was black smudged all over her right hand. She screamed, flicking her hand at the sink, so the black splattered on it. She avoided looking in the mirror as she washed her hands, afraid of what she would see.

When she was finished, she went to leave the bathroom, but suddenly halted. She struggled against whatever was holding her there, desperate to get away from the mirror. But she couldn't move.

Look at me!

Neve stopped breathing. Who had just spoken?

Look in the mirror!

Too terrified to not listen to what it said, she tried to turn to the mirror, and it worked. But what she saw when she looked at it startled her.

For a moment, it was a silhouette of herself. But then it changed. It was a monster. She could see the outline of its teeth, its misshapen body. But somehow she could also see herself. And that's what scared her the most. She wanted to run away, but again, couldn't move. Then, the silhoette charged at the mirror, enveloping everything in black. She let out a short scream, tripping over her feet and falling on her butt.

Only a moment later, she could see again.

She heard a voice from... inside her head? Oh, my gosh! Did you see your face? Priceless!

Hissing, she stood back up, anger overpowering her fear. "Whatever you are, show yourself. Stop toying with me!" She stood in a defensive position.

You're too funny! If you want to see me, just look inside yourself. I'm sure you'll find something.

Against her better judgment, she closed her eyes. At first, there was just darkness, like normal. Then there was a flash of light. She gasped, nearly falling over again. The light was gone, but the memory was imprinted in her brain. Was that a... girl?

Close enough.

Neve covered her mouth, sliding down the wall of the bathroom. What? What the hell was going on? "What the hell are you?!"

I think you mean "who," sweetheart. You can call me Pandora, I guess. Think of me as you're... guardian angel. Pandora laughed. That's so ironic!

"Why are you in my head?!"

When Pandora spoke again, all humor had disappeared. Look, I'm sure you're tired, so just go to sleep. We can address that in the morning.

"Wha..." Neve trailed off, not having enough energy to speak. Her eyelids grew heavy, movements sluggish. Her body, too weak to control itself, tipped over, falling on the floor.

Her last thought before falling asleep was: Why is this happening to me?

+++

The next morning, Neve felt exceedingly exhausted. She hadn't had a single nightmare, but she was so tired. Then everything from the day before came back to her. Her eyes widened. Had it all been a dream? Had Pandora been a figment of her imagination?

Nope. I'm here to stay, sweetie.

She groaned, getting up from bed. While she was still deeply confused as to why this thing was in her head, she had lost most of the aggravation she had yesterday. Now she was just bothered by it. It wasn't like she could feel it speaking in her head; she just knew it was there, even when it wasn't speaking. And she hated it. It had said that it was her guardian angel, but where had it been all these years? And why the hell had it jumped inside of her eye?

Wait. Hadn't she collapsed on the bathroom floor the night before because... Pandora put her to sleep. If the voice could do that to her, who knew what else it could do? She absolutely hated the idea of something else being in control of her body. And who had put her in bed?

Honey, I'm just looking out for you. You shouldn't look into things that could hurt you. Besides, you were tired anyway,Pandora stated.And I couldn't just leave you on the floor. It took a lot of concentration, but I got you in bed. You should be thanking me, actually.

Neve chose to ignore that last comment and asked Pandora a question: "How can you control my body?"

I'm in your mind for God's sake! Of course I can control your body. It would be strange if I couldn't. It was silent for a moment before the voice continued. You shouldn't take that the wrong way. Like I said, I'm just looking out for you. I would never do anything to hurt you.

"If you don't want to hurt me, then why did you jump into my eye yesterday. And if you're a guardian angel, why can't you appear in the form of an angel?" She was getting slightly irritated.

When she got no response from Pandora, she sighed, beginning to go about her daily routine. At first, she was a bit apprehensive that any second, the voice would gain control of her body and do something very unlike Neve, but she soon forgot about the voice, only focusing on school.

So when Pandora spoke again, right before Neve got into Becca's car, it gave her a little shock. Remember not to mention the whole 'voice in your head' thing to anyone under any circumstances. I don't care if they're your best friend or you trust them or whatever. Do not tell them. And don't speak to me aloud at school. I can read your thoughts, so, uh... think, okay?

She was going to respond aloud then remembered what the voice had said and thought her response of "okay".

Claire pushed her into the backseat. "God, you're slow."

As the car drove out of her neighborhood, Neve gazed out of the window. Despite the creepiness of it all, she had to admit, it was almost comforting for someone to be there, looking out for her. And even though Pandora was clearly keeping things from her, at least now she knew she wasn't completely alone.