I know I hurt you before. I know you’re hurting now. But I’m still going to hurt you again.

He won’t break me. He will never break me.

She was the most god damn beautiful thing I’d ever seen. A tragic beauty I couldn’t stop staring at.

I walk into the moonlit room and hear the click of the door behind me. A heartbeat later his presence is at my back. He stands there, hovering, the only contact the heat that simmers off his body onto mine. Then I feel it—a fingertip, or perhaps the back of his finger, moving slowly up and down my spine.

Alright, Ava,” he says, his voice so soft now it’s almost a whisper. “Here’s what’s going to happen. You like it when it hurts? Well, I’m going to hurt you, baby. I’m going to hurt you in ways you can’t imagine.

I swear, Ava, from then on, you were like this madness inside my head, I never could get past. I knew then, you would be mine. You would always be mine.

I reach out slowly and run my fingertips along the dark line of his jaw. “I don’t need you to be gentle. I can’t afford gentle.” It’s the truth. It may seem strange, but I know what my future holds. It won’t be gentle. It will be anything but gentle.

They had no idea who I really was.” He leans in close again. “But you knew, didn’t you, Ava? You’ve always known. Maybe that’s why I’ve always been so drawn to you. Always wanted to get inside you, because you’ve always been inside me.

One night. One messed-up, beautiful night is all we had together, and yet I feel like I’ve been with him every night since then. Because in many ways, I have. He’s been in my thoughts, my dreams, my memories, like a dark knight who never ever left my side, even when I left his.

He’s close now. So close, I can hear his quick breaths, hear the twigs breaking beneath his feet as he hunts me down. The moonlight pulses overhead, peeking here and there though the canopy of trees. Quick, quick, quick, my legs carry me but I know my freedom’s coming to an end.