The Evil You Do

Some time ago—a few months into my first year at Maplewood Haven—I clocked in for my shift. It was one of those brisk days where the cold bit at your skin, and the wind made you pull your coat tighter around yourself. I didn’t know it then, but I left that day a different person.

My demon woke up.

It wasn’t the usual morning buzz that hit me when I walked through the doors of the nursing home. No, something was different. The minute I stepped inside, I felt it. The air had a thickness to it, like a low hum only I could hear. I took a deep breath and let it out slow, telling myself it was just another day, just another shift. But then I saw her.

Lisa. Ms. Voluptuous  herself.

She was standing in the nurse’s station, her back to me, but that didn’t stop the sight from hitting me like a truck. Her round, perfect hips swayed slightly as she shifted from one foot to the other. That fine ass backside was something else. I could feel the shift within me, that familiar pull. It started as a little flicker in my chest, but it spread fast, like wildfire.

I felt disoriented, but at the same time, too aware. My demon stirred inside me, stretching, taking notice of Lisa just like I did.

Just one touch, my demon whispered, its voice low and sultry. You never have any fun.

That’s harassment, demon, I thought, trying to keep my voice firm in my head. We are not doing this here. I like it here.

But the demon didn’t listen. She never does. She just laughed, a soft, dark sound, and for a moment, I could feel her slipping through my veins, curling around my thoughts, trying to pull me toward the edge.

I shook my head, trying to shake her off, and pushed through the rest of my morning. The hours passed like a blur, but the hum never went away. My heart raced in my chest every time I passed Lisa, every time I caught a glimpse of Carmen. My body was on fire, my mind in a haze.

By 10:30, I needed a break. I slipped into the conference room, telling myself I just needed a moment to breathe. But the minute I stepped inside, the air changed again. The demon quieted, stilled, like she was listening for something.

That’s when I saw it—a tiny hole, barely noticeable, drilled into the wall that led to the boss’s office. At first, I wasn’t going to look. I mean, who does that? But something made me lean closer, my breath catching in my throat.

Through that small hole, I saw Carmen and Lisa.

They weren’t talking. They weren’t working. They were doing things—things that weren’t fit for work. Sexy things.

Carmen’s hands were tangled in Lisa’s long, wavy black hair, and Lisa… Lisa had this look on her face, like pure desire, as if Carmen’s touch was the only thing keeping her alive. My body flushed with heat, and the demon purred.

I didn’t stay to watch—this time.

I jerked back, pressing my hand to my chest like I was trying to push the heat back down, trying to get my heart to stop hammering. My demon laughed again, louder this time, like she knew something I didn’t.

I left the conference room feeling dizzy, my mind replaying the images over and over, my pulse racing. I couldn’t stop thinking about what I saw, about Carmen, about Lisa. But it wasn’t just them. It was me. It was the way I felt when I saw them, the way my demon stirred, the way I wanted something I hadn’t let myself want in a long time.

The best thing to do was keep my mind busy. After what I saw in the conference room, my head was spinning, and I needed to focus on something, anything else. So, I left the room and wandered the halls, hoping to drown out the demon’s whispers.

Hall 2200 had a couple of lights on. I walked over, letting the familiar routine settle my nerves. First light: Ms. Berry. The poor woman didn’t really want anything; she was just lonely, like always. I popped in for a quick check, offering a smile, even though my insides felt twisted up. She smiled back, and I made my exit.

I saw the second light and headed toward it. Mr. Robert. His call light always seemed to be on, but it was usually for something small—a blanket adjustment, a drink of water. I braced myself for the usual requests and pushed the door open.

The smell hit me before I could even greet him. It was thick, sour, and unmistakable.

I stopped in my tracks.

“Mr. Robert, I’m sorry—” I started, but my words caught in my throat.

The room felt colder. The silence… heavier. My eyes landed on him, lying there, unnaturally still. His skin had taken on that waxy, pale hue that I recognized all too well. The stench was a dead giveaway. He'd been gone for some time, and the signs were all there. The stiffness in his limbs, the way his body looked heavy, almost frozen in time.

Rigor mortis had already set in.

My heart thudded in my chest. For a moment, the demon’s voice disappeared, swallowed by the cold reality of the situation. There was no whispering, no teasing. Just the stark finality of death staring back at me.

I swallowed hard, trying to keep my composure. It wasn’t the first time I’d seen death in my line of work, but it always hit differently when it caught you off guard like this. I moved slowly, almost robotically, stepping out into the hallway to call for help.

The demon stirred again, quieter this time, her hunger momentarily sated by something darker.

It was 4:40, nearly time to serve dinner, when Carmen found me standing in the hallway, my back pressed against the wall outside of Mr. Robert’s room. I hadn’t moved since I made the call. My mind was still spinning with the smell, the sight of him, the cold, heavy feeling of death lingering in the air.

Carmen’s voice cut through the fog. “Suga, are you okay? If you need to go—”

I shook my head quickly, pushing down the rising lump in my throat. “No,” I said, my voice coming out steadier than I felt. “What happened? I collected his breakfast tray this morning. He was fine, complaining about a stomach ache.”

Carmen’s face softened, her green ombre curls framing her face as she stepped closer, her eyes searching mine. She let out a soft sigh, her voice gentle but laced with the reality I didn’t want to hear.

“He aspirated on his vomit,” she said. “His hip was broken—he wasn’t able to move into an upright position.”

Her words hit me like a ton of bricks, the weight of them sinking into my chest. Mr. Robert had been complaining, and I hadn’t thought much of it. People complained all the time in this place, and sometimes it was just that—complaints. I didn’t know it would be the last time he’d ever say anything.

I blinked hard, fighting back the sting in my eyes, but Carmen caught the movement. She reached out, her hand resting gently on my arm. “You couldn’t have known,” she said softly, as if reading the guilt etched on my face.

But it didn’t stop the flood of emotions swirling inside me. Anger, sadness, guilt—they all mixed with the leftover heat of the day. The demon inside me that had stirred earlier was quiet now, pushed back into the shadows by something colder, something harder to face.

I clocked out that night different from how I came in. The demon inside me had awoken, and she was determined to be heard.

The next day, I was headed to the break room when I overheard Keisha, her voice carrying down the hallway. She was in the back with Raul from dietary, laughing. The sound grated on my nerves, sending a chill through me. I stopped, out of sight but close enough to hear every word.

She was talking about Mr. Robert.

Raul’s voice came through, low and disgusted. "A man died."

Keisha didn’t miss a beat. “He was on his way out anyway,” she said, like it was nothing. Her tone was casual, almost dismissive, and it twisted something deep inside me.

“This bitch,” my demon growled inside, a slow rumble beneath my skin. “You know they didn’t report her. Nothing’s going to happen.”

And it was true. No one was talking about the fact that Keisha’s negligence had killed him. She had been in his room that morning, she had known he was in pain, and she’d done nothing. A father was gone, a brother, a son—lost because of her carelessness.

I could feel the anger bubbling up, my demon stirring, demanding to be heard. She needed to pay for that, I thought. The weight of it pressed down on my chest, suffocating, and all I could see was Keisha’s face, her smug smile, her flippant attitude.

It reminded me too much of my own mother. The neglect, the dismissive way she handled me when I was just a kid, like I didn’t matter. Like my needs were trivial. The memories surfaced without warning, clawing at the edges of my mind, and I couldn’t shake them.

I felt my demon rising up, pushing me toward the edge. The rage was too hot, too raw, and for a moment, I wanted to act. To make Keisha pay right then and there.

“No,” my demon whispered again, more deliberate now. “We wait.”

And as much as I wanted to explode, I knew she was right. This wasn’t the time. Not yet. But I wasn’t going to let it go.

A couple of weeks passed, but the memory of Mr. Robert’s death, and Keisha’s cruel laughter, clung to me like a shadow I couldn’t shake. My demon had gone quiet, watching, waiting for the right moment. And when the opportunity came, it felt almost ordained, like the universe itself wanted justice for Mr. Robert.

The nursing home was throwing a Halloween party for the residents. It was an annual thing, costumes, decorations, cheap punch—the whole deal. Keisha, in her usual careless way, had volunteered to help set it all up. I couldn’t believe the audacity of her smiling, joking around, like she hadn’t caused a man’s death just weeks before.

But this wasn’t just any Halloween party. This was the night.

Demon had been whispering to me for days, laying out a plan in careful, deliberate steps. We wait for the right time, she’d said, her voice low and certain. Tonight was that time.

The lights in the nursing home were dimmed, casting long shadows against the orange and black streamers that hung from the ceiling. Fake cobwebs were draped across the windows, and the faint sound of ghostly music played in the background. I watched Keisha move from table to table, laughing with some of the residents, putting on that fake smile that made my stomach churn.

She didn’t know I was watching her. She had no idea that the same fate she’d brought upon Mr. Robert was creeping up behind her like a silent predator. My demon stirred, pacing inside me, ready to be unleashed.

“She’s alone now,” Demon whispered, her voice more urgent.

Keisha had drifted away from the party, heading toward the back, maybe to grab more decorations, maybe just to escape the chaos for a moment. Either way, it didn’t matter. This was it. The moment we’d been waiting for.

I followed her quietly, my heart pounding in my chest, each step deliberate, my breathing shallow. The hallway was empty, and Keisha had stopped just outside the storage room, fiddling with a box of supplies.

Demon whispered instructions, guiding me through each motion, as if I’d rehearsed it a thousand times.

It’s simple. Easy. Like he was. She won’t even know what hit her.

The tension inside me coiled tighter as I moved closer. The weight of the syringe in my pocket was cold and solid, a reminder of the line I was about to cross.

Keisha was humming to herself, still oblivious to my presence. I was right behind her now, close enough to hear her shallow breaths, to smell the faint scent of the cheap perfume she always wore.

“She killed him,” Demon hissed. “Now, she pays.”

I slipped the syringe from my pocket. In one swift motion, I jabbed it into her neck. She gasped, her hand flying up to where I’d pricked her skin, but it was too late. She spun around, eyes wide with shock, mouth open, but no words came out.

“Don’t worry,” I whispered, feeling Demon’s satisfaction radiate through me. “You’re going to get what Mr. Robert got.”

Keisha’s legs buckled, and she collapsed to the ground, her body limp and useless. Her eyes flickered with panic as the drug took hold, slowing her heart, making her chest rise and fall in uneven, shallow breaths. I stood over her, watching the life drain from her, the tension finally breaking, replaced by an eerie calm.

The same calm that had settled over Mr. Robert’s room.

her movements, stealing away her strength. She groped at the floor, trying to pull herself up, but it was futile. The room was deathly quiet, save for her shallow, ragged breathing.

I stood over her, watching, as my demon purred with satisfaction deep within me. It felt like time had slowed, like the weight of everything that had built up—the injustice, the rage, the years of pent-up fury—was being released in this one moment.

Keisha’s eyes flicked up to mine, pleading. Her mouth opened, and I could see the desperation there, the dawning realization of what was happening to her. But it was too late. She had made her choice when she let Mr. Robert die in that bed, ignored his pain, and laughed about it later.

“You think this is just about you?” I said, crouching down so we were eye level. My voice came out cold, detached, even as the demon in me danced with joy. “This is bigger than you, bigger than me. This is for every life you played with, every moment you acted like you didn’t care.”

Her mouth moved, trying to form words, but nothing came out. She was fading fast, her body giving in to the drug, her strength draining from her like the life she had taken from Mr. Robert.

I leaned in close, my voice a low whisper. “This is your reckoning.”

Her eyes fluttered shut, her body going still. I stood there for a moment longer, watching her, feeling the finality of it all. The demon inside me was quiet now, satiated by the act, her hunger momentarily sated. But beneath the satisfaction, I felt something else—a hollow emptiness, a quiet that should have brought peace but instead felt... wrong.

I straightened up, taking a step back from Keisha’s lifeless form. The adrenaline that had coursed through me was fading, leaving behind a heavy weight in its place. The reality of what I had done was sinking in, bit by bit.

This wasn’t just about Mr. Robert. This was about the darkness in me, the demon I had let loose. And now that it was out, I wasn’t sure I could ever put it back.

I took one last look at Keisha, her body crumpled on the cold floor, and turned away. The party continued in the distance, the laughter and chatter of the residents a strange backdrop to the silence that surrounded me.

I slipped out into the night, the cold wind biting at my skin once again, just like it had that morning when I’d clocked in. But this time, I wasn’t the same person.

I never would be again.

#darkfiction #psychologicalthriller #theevilyoudo