When she awoke, it was to the sensation of wet grass on her cheek and a stiff aching in her joints, likely due to the awkward position she had slept in. There was also a steady pounding in her skull, certainly a result of the alcohol from however many hours previously.

It didn't seem like a dream. She could remember everything in vivid detail without that fog over her memories.

As everything churned in her mind, she did not move. Instead, she contemplated her interaction with the Devil, following through their conversation.

Surprisingly enough she didn't regret agreeing to the deal. In fact she was glad she took the opportunity. Waking up to see the filthy and ruined scraps her life had delved to gave her the clarity in her decision she hadn't had then.

When she reached the memory of the snake tattoo, she checked her arm. The stark black ink was still evident on her skin.

Then she checked her neck.

Tracing her fingertips over the area, she identified small ridges of raised skin. Some followed circular patterns or intersected with straight lines. She couldn't identify what the shapes made.

The skin was apparently sensitive as she shivered at the sensation of her nail grazing over it.

The physical remnants of her deal cemented its reality within her, meaning she no longer doubted its legitimacy.

At that point Lucifer's final words to her registered in her busy brain.

The knowledge that she'd have to kill herself weighed heavily on her shoulders. The first signs of regret revealed themselves as her mind twisted from burdened to troubled.

Then again, she should have expected something like this.

After all, if you want to claim a new life you'd need to give up your old one.

A revelation dawned upon her: it was less that she feared letting go of her life, but more the fact that she'd have to experience the pain of dying that made her reluctant to move forward.

The pain would be worth the promised result, surely.

Starting as a deep exhale, an anguished wail escaped her lips as her head found it's way to her hands.

How the fuck had she ended up here, sitting in the dirt of a fucking cemetery ready to kill herself for the damned Devil?! Where exactly did she fuck up that badly??

The numerous mistakes and regrets of her short, miserable life swirled around her mind.

Sadly the body she had left in that alley was merely the latest of one thousand agonizing moments that decided to rear their hideous faces.

Her eyes pricked with a fresh round of unshed tears, but determination prevented them from falling.

Her gaze steeled as her mind settled in acceptance of her fate.

She got to her feet, not bothering to look for her heels, and pattered her way back to the road.

For a while, she walked without direction, merely letting her feet take her where she wished to go. As she walked, she thought about what she had to do before she died.

It was a sucker punch to the gut when she realised there was no-one that cared about her deeply enough for her to say goodbye to them.

She passed building after building after building - the innumerable faces that passed by on the street were blurred by static, no longer holding any significance to her.

Her feet carried her aimlessly for over an hour after that until she was no longer in the city centre.

Upon reaching the outskirts, she finally stopped. The sheen of sweat on her skin felt almost sticky and chilled her in the cool winds.

Gazing before her, she knew she had found the place to end this life.

A hazy mist obscured the grand bridge before her, smearing the landscape with an opaque grey. The moisture carried in the air was pleasant against her heated skin.

The view over the water was prettier than ever; only slight indications of the churning river were visible, causing it to seem welcoming to those who knew no better.

The metal railings were cold and wet under her palm, causing her to slip around slightly as she climbed over.

Her mouth turned upwards at the corners, forming a slight crazed smile. The steady breathing she had maintained until this point turned shaky as she glanced down at the black frothing mass far beneath her, occasionally peeking through the mist.

She knew she had to do this, but that didn't exactly make it easier.

Fear clawed at her and she almost wanted to go back home, forget the whole thing. She understood that she couldn't.

Sucking in a deep breath, her eyes fluttered shut as cool air entered her lungs.

Then she let go.

Terror ignited into her flailing limbs as she tumbled through the empty air. The seconds it took to reach the water seemed to stretch into an eternity. So many regrets flashed before her in that time.

She should have said goodbye to someone after all, even if they didn't really care.

Contact with the river caused a ricochet of pain to reverberate throughout her entire body. It was as if the water had been carved concrete instead.

The striking cold of the water shocked her body as it consumed her broken form. She gasped instinctively, immediately regretting it when a meaty portion of river struggled down her throat. It burned in her oesophagus. The sensation was that of snorting water - that warm burn in your nasal passages that makes your eyes water - only amplified extortionately.

Her survival instincts were in full control, flailing her limbs as her mouth desperately gulped at the freezing air then the freezing water.

It wasn't long before she began tiring, the numbing temperatures and constant repetition of 'air-no air' taking its toll on her body.

Her body stopped breaking through the surface of the water as her limbs shut down. She sank lower into the unrelenting current, her body completely consumed.

She stared at the shimmering sun through the water, watching its shapes dance yet only able to process the fact that there was fresh air right there, just out of her reach.

It hurt so much.

Her lungs were on fire, filled with ice and desperate for oxygen.

A terrifying darkness began to corrode her vision and her mind as her struggling ceased.

She was left suspended in the water, all sirens in her head blaring that she was dying, and all she felt was fear.

Then the pain faded into nothing as her brain stopped yelling.

Her eyes remained open, but they were lumps of unseeing useless flesh now.

She was dead.