A Ship of Bones & Teeth

by Karina Halle

“A woman like you? The very one that’s struck me in the face twice, tripped me up, and driven her nails into my flesh so hard that she’s drawn blood? I think that woman is a force to be reckoned with. She just needs someone to set her free.”

“You are a stunning abyss of a creature,” I tell her. “One that I could spend eons swimming in and never get to the bottom of.”

“Darling, your body would bring any man to their knees where they would be in the right position to worship you. It’s a body carved by god yet meant for sin, and it would become anyone’s salvation.”

“My little monster has come out to play again,” I say, grinning up at her. “Don’t you know this only excites me?”

“I’ve never had an addiction before,” he says hoarsely. “But I think you’ll be mine.”

But I know when he looks at me like this, with such intensity, he’s seeing all of me, even the parts I’m used to hiding. And whether it’s something I’m ashamed of or not, he sees it. And I remember, once upon a time, that had been all I ever wanted.

“Then perhaps the both of us are mad, if madness and monsters are one of the same,” I murmur. “But we can be mad together. We can drown in our madness together.”

“Like you’re the moon and I’m the tides, and every thought, every need, every want, is drawn to you, Maren.” I laugh to myself. “You’re right, this is madness and I’m drowning and I don’t give a damn.”

I know that this is where I belong, drowning in this madness with her. Two monsters that have found their souls in one another.