Lexi blinked. But how could she have? There was no Lexi, there was no nothing. It was not dark, but nor was it light. It was both void and matter, neither hot nor cold. There was nothing, but also everything. And then from that nothing came a voice. This voice could not be heard, as there was no sound, and no Lexi to hear it, even if there was, and yet Lexi heard this sound. It was in her head, and all around her, and not there at all.

**_“Child?”_ **it will be called a voice, for that is what Lexi ‘heard’.
**
_“Child, why are you here?”_** It was not one voice, but many all different, a harmony if you will. “I” Lexi stuttered, “where am I?”

_**“Nowhere.”**_ Said some, _**“Everywhere.”**_ Said others, before they all started saying things and drowning each other out. “Stop, stop, stop.” Whimpered Lexi, but the noise just went on. And then, rising above the clamor, a bossy voice with a command, _“Shut UP!”_ All the voices fell silent at once. “What happened?” Lexi queried.
_
“You tell me.”_ The bossy voice replied.

“I … I was walking … Max … then I was falling … there was a screeching … pain ……… Am I dead?”

_**“No”**_ all the voices replied in perfect unison.

“But I was hit by a car!”

_“You”_ stated the bossy voice, _“are not dead.”_

“But…”

_“You, are not dead, but nor are you alive. Just as you are currently both nowhere and everywhere. You do not exist, but also you do.”_ A firm voice, different to the bossy one.

“And who are you?”

_“I’m Contradiction"_

_“I’m Vice.”_ Said a timid voice.

_“Lust”_ said another.
_
“Wrath”_ rasped a third, and that started the onslaught.

_“Greed, Sin, Faithlessness, Aggression, Gluttony, Hope, Knowledge, Envy, Dreams, Loneliness, Belief, Despise, Thought, Love, Sorrow, Truth, chaos.”_ And so the list went on and on finally finishing with; _“And I’m Control.”_ It was the bossy voice. _“We’re what you might call demons.”_

“But” Lexi managed, quite overwhelmed, “Aren’t demons bad?”

_“No”_ Knowledge said matter of factly, _“Just as no human is perfect, neither is the soul, where ‘demons’ hide. We are, in essence, YOU.”_

_“But, we are not YOUR demons.”_ Truth stated.

_“We belong to…” _Control started, before Lexi cut across, “Max. You belong to Max. You feel like him.”

_“Yes”_ Control was clearly put out, _“We are Max’s demons and that’s why you aren’t dead.”_ 

_“Not WHY,”_ another, possibly Thought, butted in, _“It’s simply HOW we know you aren’t dead. If you were dead, if you were well and truly dead, we wouldn’t be here.”_

_“No”_ Control took over again, _“We’d be back with Max, setting your lot free in the process.” _

The voices had been fading slowly, getting fainter, and possibly further away, if that was even possible in this void of existence.

_“You won’t remember this.”_ Memory’s voice, soft as silk.

_“Except, maybe in dreams.”_ Fading voice of Dream.

 And too faint to hear, but heard none the less, _**“Or if you ever come back”
**_