The Demon Beneath My Skin

Author’s Note: The ending of the book Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde poses a very interesting realization that Dr. Jekyll all along used a drug to change back and forth from Jekyll to Hyde. What Jekyll thought was a nice “escape” from reality to get a taste of evil caused him to want it more and more. Eventually, he had to take so much to get the full effect that one day, he transformed without the assistance of the drug. The control was no longer in his hands. Hyde had become such a large part of who Jekyll was that he eventually had to use he drug to turn back into Jekyll rather than turn into Hyde. I got inspiration for this piece when the text said, “I still hated and feared the thought of the brute that slept within me…” (121). The terror I have of demons and the thought of one living inside of me gives me the chills, so I wanted to create a sort of diary entry/ thought process of a woman possessed.

Dear Diary,

Never before have I been filled with such evil. I’ve been deceived by something so powerful that there’s nothing I can do to purge it. It has irrevocably penetrated the walls of my body and eternally entered my soul. I have no one to turn to, for it lives inside of me now. He tempted me into his ways, threatened me to do his dark deeds, but if I chose not to obey, I await grave consequences. I was enveloped into his curse, but now I cannot fathom how to escape his torturous grasp.

The fear of this demon is indescribable; I can find no words to convey my terror. He thrives off of my fright, and has developed into a parasitical evil attached to my soul. The wrong I do is of no prompting of my own, but rather forced onto me from my master. I know people would think I’m crazy if he allowed me to tell. No one would believe me. I confide in you, diary, and you only to keep my secret. It is a relief to write my raw feelings for I can tell no one

My body has been taken over, and I sense I don’t have much time remaining. I wished to tell someone before I am taken, however; I can only confess this in writing. In the event of my disappearance, know I have probably suffered a horrible fate, and these writings will be all that is left behind, the only clue to my misfortune, the disastrous downfall, and what may be the death of me.