Satan's Affair

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of religious discrimination, sexual violence and/or harassment, rape, mental illness, child abuse, child sexual abuse, death by suicide, substance use, graphic violence, sexual content, cursing, and physical abuse.

“Gripping my pretty knife in my hand, I lean down closely and start working the pointed tip around the edge of the man’s eyeball. It’s my favorite knife. The handle is bright pink and swirls at the end. I’ve had this knife since I was a little girl, it’s the only thing left I have of my mother’s.”

The contrast between Sibby’s child-like outlook and the graphic violence of her actions is stark in this passage. Though she is cutting into a man’s face, she is easily distracted by her “pretty knife,” which evokes the memory of her mother. This disparity between thought and action highlights how Sibby’s violence is effectively an effort to protect herself and her mother, even in memory.

“‘I think he’s dead,’ Mortis comments dryly from behind me. I smile at his tone and glance over my shoulder, noting he’s adorned in his costume. I smile wider. He’s always in costume. All of my henchmen are. Always playing their part because this is what we do. This is how we eradicate evil from the world, one town at a time.”

Mortis’s comment pulls Sibby out of her fantasy, in which she is still mutilating and punishing a demon, reminding her that the person she killed is dead beneath her. For Sibby, Mortis’s sardonic tone and ever-present costume further integrate him into the fantasy, reaffirming that he is a part of her team in the effort to eradicate evil.

“That’s okay. I don’t need to be beautiful when I’m doing exactly what I was created to do. Not a single soul passes through the threshold of this house without me casting judgment—determining if evil resides in their soul. As they make their way through the maze of my dollhouse, I watch from inside the walls. They’re all judged. Every single one of them.”

Two key components in this passage are Sibby’s selflessness and her perception of her duty. She does not “need to be beautiful” because she is serving a specific role, but she also has a distinct obsession with her appearance and her possessions. Her make-up and knife are symbolic objects, representing her desire to erase her identity and protect herself. This focus then gets deflected outward toward the “demons” she kills, identifying them as the threat to her sense of self and the reason for her occupation.