Alex
I WOULD KILL her.
Just like I’d killed them.
Maybe not on purpose.
Maybe it would be an accident. Something that happened out of my own selfish ambition, because the pain was too much, because I was too distracted with my own needs.
But I knew it just as I knew my name, my purpose, my own daily suffering, and pain.
I would kill her.
And it would destroy me.
Her body trembled as I picked her up into my arms and slowly carried her up the stairs into my section of the house, a place I hardly let anyone enter, a place that nobody dared even try since it dripped with my scent.
And my scent had a way of making even the most logically minded people lose their shit.
It was why we never kept pets.
Mason refused to be called one anyway.
The point was, living organisms could only stand me for so long before they either needed me beyond reason, or hated me for their own want.
My parents had hated me.
Why would Hope be any different?
I’d unlocked a part of her that could never be hidden again, a part of her that would always need me, crave me, want me. And if we were separated she would die.
Of course she would hate me.
Because she would run.
And she would die.
And it — all of it — would be my fault.
A heaviness settled across my shoulders as I kicked open my door and laid her on the bed.
Her breathing was shallow.
And my world exploded into bright colors just watching her inhale and exhale.
I was owned by her.
And I would never tell her.
I crossed my arms and hovered over her and then shook her awake.
When her eyes opened, they were red like mine.
Pride swelled before I pushed it the hell down and fought for control. Taking her again would be glorious. This time, I’d hear her scream my name before she passed out, this time, I’d strip her naked and lick her until I had her taste memorized, this time—
“What happened?” She pushed up on her elbows as her eyes went back to a boring chocolate brown. One I didn’t find beautiful at all.
Not.