Selfish.

To me, the blood coating my hand was troublesome, annoying. 

It was apparent that Delia saw it for something other than that, a burden, proof of what she did. 

I groaned out loud in disgust. 

"W-What is it?" I could hear how frantic she was; it was almost adorable. 

"Well, now you have to clean this all up, bloodstains last awhile, and if we're not careful, someone could find them and know what you did,"

She inhaled sharply, "C-could they?" 

"Oh yes, it's happened numerous times to some of my other...students,"

Her heart thudded even harder, echoing in the alley. I was sure I would be the only one able to hear it; human ears were weak. 

"W-will it happen to me?" 

My head cocked to the side. Of course, humans were naturally selfish creatures. She was only concerned about her own safety. Whatever happened to the past students were of no interest to her. 

Choosing my words with caution, I whispered, "If you're not careful,"

She turned around and immediately reached for the bucket of water. 

"Ah-ah," I tutted, "That will just spread the blood around. You need bleach,"   

"Bleach," She whispered to herself, "Bleach, bleach, BLEACH? Where am I meant to find that?" 

I smiled with the satisfaction I gained from her hysteria, "That sounds like your problem," 

"M-my problem? You're the one that convinced me t-to...to k-kill him!" 

My smile widened at her stumbling over the words of admission; she couldn't face what she'd done. 

"You're wrong. I didn't tell you to do anything, merely nudged you in the right direction," 

"I don't care what you did," Her voice hardened, "You're going to help me," 

"Am I now?" I chuckled, and not the joyous kind, "I'll tell you what, If you do one thing for me, I will make this whole thing disappear," 

"R-really?" She was relieved, or so I assumed. I was not very good at reading positive emotions. Positive emotions had no rhyme or reason to me; they just existed. Negative emotions had so many categories, styles, forms. They were so intricate, like a puzzle. You had to piece together all the pieces and see how they fit together and see the cause. They always had an origin. That was what I liked about them.

"Yes, all you have to do is..." I enjoyed dragging on the suffering, giving me more time to gauge her reaction. She was all ears, leaning forward, eyes wide with desperation; this was perfect, "Kill someone for me," 

"W-what? I-I already did that!" I watched her squirm, her mouth opening and closing like a fish, sweat beads trickling down her forehead. She used her finger subconsciously to wipe them away. Her fingers left a trail of blood across her forehead. She didn't cringe away from the substance like before. Was she...growing?   

I wasn't sure if that was the correct terminology, more like...changing. 

"Did I stutter?" I selected one of my favorite sayings. If said with just the right amount of authority, it works like a charm. 

Her eyes somehow widened further; her heart took off. I could see the frantic rise and fall of her chest. I needed to apply more pressure. 

"Well, I'm going to leave," I paced towards the entry of the alleyway. I trusted that her weak mental and physical state would allow for her not to trust her own judgment. "Good luck doing this by yourself,"

"ILL DO IT!" 

She crumbled a lot quicker than I would have expected, she was weak. 

"Good," I purred, "Follow me," 

She cast a half glance at the mangled corpse behind us. She had no concern for the body itself, only fear that it would be found. 

"Leave it," I commanded. 

"N-no one will find it right?" Disgustingly selfish.

"Don't question me," 

She swallowed loudly. Her fear clouded the air, I could smell it. Yet...she trusted me. So blind, so stupid, so desperate. 

I had my back to her as we walked. I paid attention to the sounds as replacement eyesight; the dripping of some liquid, possibly water or blood. Footsteps echoing in the alleyway. Her's, I doubted I had any of my own. 

"W-where are we going?"  

I didn’t reply. I knew where. 

The alley trailed from behind an old bar and opened onto a stretch of houses. These were basic city houses; made with stone, old, unsanitary, home to demons. 

I heard her intake of breath and the ragged pattern of her feet come to a stop. This new Delia didn’t want to be seen, worried about her faults, always worried. 

“Come,” I didn’t like having to reassert my dominance in the situation but it seemed necessary. 

“W-what if-”

“Shut up,” I was so very close to snapping, snapping her. How I hated humans. 

Her footsteps started up again, joined with another pair. 

Perfect. 

I veered left, towards a grey house tucked into a wall. On the porch in front of the house, a middle-aged man sat. He was thin, deep brown eyes behind an unkept knot of black hair tinted grey with age. 

I smiled blackly and turned to face my...student. 

“Him,” I said flatly. 

“H-him? What did h-he do?” Delia’s eyes were wide with disbelief, her whole form was shaking violently.

“He’s human,” I answered, “He did something,” 

She opened her mouth to retaliate, I cut her off again, “Don’t you want your ‘mess’ cleaned up?” 

Delia’s mouth snapped closed. Selfish. 

“Well go on then,” 

I watched her do the deed, emerging from the shadows a crimson coated knife in hand. He fell dead at my feet. Well, not entirely, his neurons were likely still firing. He moaned once or twice, grasping at the air before falling silent at her feet.  

I nodded my approval, “Good,” 

Delia nodded, stepping over the dying human-like it was a rug or a heap of laundry, “Can I have the bleach now?” 

I flared my nostrils, she wasn’t stuttering. She didn’t even seem to care about the body on the floor, only for herself. I wasn’t surprised. 

“No,” 

“Excuse me?” She wheeled on me. 

I snorted aloud. Was she..rebelling?

“I just killed two people for you,”

“Wrong, you killed two people for you,” 

“Give me the bleach,” 

I turned and left. 

“You cannot just leave!” I felt her fingers grasping the end of my arm. 

I laughed, “Don’t touch me,” 

She didn’t let go. 

She was on the floor in an instant, my foot on her throat, she gasped for air, fingers scratching helplessly along my leg. 

“If anyone comes to find the body, kill them,” I hissed, “The world would do better with fewer humans, you are all evil and selfish, you are all guilty of something,” 

I removed my foot, watched her suck in the air desperately. 

“That’s not true,” She gasped. 

“Tsk,” I murmured, “Look in the mirror,” 

Then I walked away, ignoring the begging pleas behind me.