I woke up, middle of the night, head pounding, eyes unfocused, the sweet melody playing softly in my ears. It was still there, after so many years. I could remember everything about that night. The memories dancing in my head like a ballet. But this ballet was sinister and dark; it was filled with hurt and pain. Your sanity became lost in it and once it was gone, so was everything else. Why wouldn't they go away?

I was once victim to my past and its demons. They kept me behind steel bars, starved me from life, took peaceful sleep and turned it into a fight for my life. Those are demons that I work so hard to forget, but it never works. I won't do therapy. I refuse to have some person prying open the darkest corners of my mind for sixty bucks an hour. Besides, they won't help.

Seven years ago I constantly wondered how I would forget these demons. But then I realized I couldn't. They'd always be there no matter what I did, where I went, who I met. They'd laugh at my happiest moments as they knew they could tear them down in seconds. I had to learn to live with them, replace them with all new demons. I did just that.

At seventeen years of age I delved into the world of drugs; a spiraling mess of chaos and long, sleepless nights. It was perfect for me; I had those two things anyways. But drugs? They put meaning, reason into these nights. I was so happy for their release, they eased the pain and I was thankful a little more everyday for their presence in my life. I'd met a few rough people as was expected. At eighteen I was kicked out my parent's house, they knew what I did and they didn't want it around any longer. All my money went towards finding a place to stay. Work was hard, withdrawal was hitting pretty hard. I went from every night to barely once a month just like that.

My salvation came from Tyler, my regular dealer who offered to let me sell from time to time in order to make money. At best I was shaky at it, always wondering if a cop would catch me. Up until twenty it wasn't a regular thing. But Tyler's boss knew he was letting me sell, he was okay with it. At least until he found out Tyler was stealing a decent amount of money, the costs had added up. I never found out what happened to Tyler after that. But then Tyler's spot was offered to me.

It was at this point in my life that I found out that to numb my old demons I needed to replace them with new ones. I did. I sold and sold, did more drugs, got into bad places and got out with connections. By twenty six I was sleeping in a nice apartment with a pretty amount of coin in my pocket. Things were good now. I'd traded my family for comfort and I wasn't sad about it. Besides, I'd started up my own drug smuggling and was doing just fine, my old boss Miguel having helped me out in return that I don't threaten his own business too much. Never did, I switched to a different city early on.

But I would soon find out that my old demons and my new ones didn't mix. When I was twenty-six I got a call from my sister. She wanted to reconnect. I couldn't say no, I loved her. Missing her was more of a formality at this time in my life. She proposed we go on a vacation. I knew just where to go. Rook Island, I had a possible business there anyways from a man named Vaas. I'd heard of him before though never concerned myself with the likes of him. But the chance I was being offered now was irresistible. I could do business and go on vacation at the same time.

This was sure to be my undoing, I didn't even know it. In my life I've learned a few rules. People will let you down, life's going to kick your ass and you have to fight back, but the one I've learned that I'll never forget is that you never trust a drug dealer. They look out for their own asses, I knew I did. I just didn't think it would go so far as it did when I went to Rook Island, crates of drugs on a boat, my own men transporting it separately, and my sister in tow.