Page 27 of To Love a Monster
My hands shake with rage and restraint.I want to rip Carl apart at the seams and make her watch while I paint the walls red with her mistake.But I don’t.Because something captures my attention.Carl’s voice.Somewhere inside.Low and smug.I sneak around the side of the house where Carl stands in his bedroom.His voice low as he speaks into his phone.
“...Yeah.She came over on her own.Told you she would.I didn’t even have to push.”A pause.“She’s sweet.A little skittish but curious.I’ll have my fun while we wait for the signal.No point letting a body like that go to waste.”The world tilts as he heads out and makes his way back to her.My hands curl into fists so tight my nails break skin.I feel the blood pool in my palm like it’s asking for permission as I watch them drink wine, flirt, and move to the living room.
I can’t breathe, can’t blink.But now I wait.Ihaveto wait.Because I need to report this to Matteo, I’m still on a mission and we might need more information from Carl.Although I want nothing more than to rip his throat out and make him eat it, I know that I need a better plan.I need to be strategic.Careful.If he’s been sent by one of Matteo’s enemies, I need to find out as much as I can before I kill him.
She leans closer to him and laughs again before reaching out and touching his leg.My jaw almost cracks under the pressure as I pull my phone from my jacket and start dialing Matteo.The line rings.Once.Twice.Three times.No answer.“Pick up, you bastard,” I growl under my breath, pacing like a caged animal in the shadows, the phone pressed tight to my ear.Four.Five.Voicemail.
“Fucking fuck,” I hiss, snapping the phone away from my face.My fingers twitch and my vision tunnels.Rage thickens behind my eyes until the trees blur.I circle the house again and reach the living room window just in time to see him kiss her.
What.The.Fuck.My grip on the siding tightens until the wood cracks beneath my palm.She doesn’t know what she’s doing.
I call her.She declines it.Her face unreadable and her voice too soft to make out what she says next.
His one hand disappears under the fabric of her hoodie and I go still.The other is on her thigh now, and his mouth moves to her neck.She arches into him, her hips shifting.Her fingers dig into the fabric of his shirt like she’s bracing for the fall.
His hand disappears beneath the hem of her leggings.And I know.I know that look.Her mouth parts and her head falls back.Her body offers itself and that sound,that sound, even through the fucking glass, I hear it.I watch his fingers move frantically beneath her leggings and hear her moan.Her legs start to tremble like she’s about to come.
No.No one makes her come but me.That pleasure ismine.That sound belongs tome.Not his fingers.Not his mouth.I don’t wait.I can’t.Because if I wait any longer, she’s going to break me.This is what she wanted.I fucking warned her and she still went ahead and did it.She just couldn’t play along and wait like a good girl.
She wanted me to come for her.Forced me to act now.And now there is no more holding back.
Without thinking, I reach down, grab the nearest rock I can find, and launch it straight through the living room window.Glass explodes, sharp and bright like lightning breaking the sky.Inside, she jolts and Carl shouts, but I don’t stop.
I throw another rock, sending it crashing through the bedroom window.Then another through the kitchen.I circle the house like a predator with blood in his teeth.And this?This is just a warning.
Carl bolts for the door, barefoot and stupid, yelling into the dark like it’ll answer back.I disappear into the trees to where neither of them can see me.But I see them.She steps out next, slower.Her arms are crossed as she scans the dark like she knows I’m there.Because she feels me.She always does.Carl says something, maybe trying to explain, apologize, or convince her to come back inside.
But she’s not listening, instead she mumbles something before turning and walking away.She doesn’t let him follow, doesn’t give him a second glance.Just leaves him standing there in the doorway.
Because deep down, under the rebellion and under the fight, she knows she’s pissed me off and she knows it’s time to face the demon she worked so hard to summon.
So I follow.Not close enough to be seen, not yet, just far enough to watch the tension in her back, the way her fists are clenched in her sleeves, the uneven edge of her breath as it curls out into the cold.She’s shaking, but not just from fear, from adrenaline, but from knowing what’s coming for her.Who’scoming for her.
She cuts back toward her cabin, taking the fastest path through the woods, like she can actually outrun me now.I keep my eyes on her and stay in the tree line, trailing her as the first drops of rain start to fall.Thunder cracks overhead as she reaches the edge of her property and starts unlocking the door.I watch her fumble with her keys as I pull out my phone and send a text.
You knew exactly what you were doing tonight.
She doesn’t look at her phone when it buzzes in her hand, not right away, but I know she feels it.Feels the heat of the leash tightening around her throat.Feelsme.Her fingers twitch and her pace slows as I send another.She won’t escape me tonight, not after the little stunt she just pulled.
Did he feel good, little lamb?Did you like knowing I was watching while you let him touch you?
She stops, barely for a breath, but enough for me to see the tremble start at her spine.Before she enters the house, she glances over her shoulder, and I let her see me standing in the shadows.I take a step closer.Silent and slow.I send three texts in a row and watch as it buzzes in her hand.
You don’t get to act surprised when I come for you.
You were begging for it.
You opened your legs for another man just to see if I’d come unhinged.And now?I’m going to fuck the disobedience out of you.I’m going to make your body forget the feeling of him inside you.You didn’t just ask for punishment tonight, little lamb ...you begged to be broken.And I heard you.Loud.And.Fucking.Clear.
The phone lights again in her hand.She reads it but doesn’t reply.She doesn’t have to.I move in closer, no longer bothering to mask the sound of my steps.Let her hear me.Let her feel the weight of me closing in.Because if she wanted me to stay away?She wouldn’t have gone to him.She wouldn’t have opened her legs like she was trying to crawl out of my reach.
She did it to provoke me.And now?Now she’s going to get exactly what she asked for.Every inch of my fury.Every second of my restraint snapping.I’m not just going to fuck her, I’m going to rewrite her.Break her open and fill every hollow space with my name, my breath, my fucking madness, until the only thing she recognizes in the mirror is what I left behind
