Under Your Scars (Under Your Scars, #1)

by Ariel N. Anderson

The serial killer in my apartment tucked me into bed after I passed out and he made sure to put my socks back on my feet so they wouldn’t get cold.

“I don’t want to kill you, angel. I want to keep you all to myself. You’d better take off those rose-colored glasses and accept that the only place you belong is in my black heart.”

“If you’re so concerned about my humanity, Elena, then reach into my soul and find it, because I’m not sure I have any left.”

“Listen to me,” I plead. “I love you. I will love you forever. Even when we’re nothing but bones in the ground, I will find you in the afterlife and cherish you like I always have. I will hold you and kiss you and fall asleep with you wrapped in my arms. I will spoil you and give you a wedding ring with my last name to match. I will buy you yachts and islands and mansions all over the world so you can feel safe. I will do all of this even if you fight me because you know better than anyone that boundaries have never stopped me. One day, only when you’re ready, I will fill you with my love again, and I promise I will do it so thoroughly you will forget all that pain you went through for me. You’ll forget about the secrets and the lies and how betrayed you felt when you found out the truth. I will chase away all your demons because you know I’m scarier than they’ll ever be. I’ll do everything for you until the only thing you know how to do is love me back.” I take a deep breath and wipe away her sorrow with my thumbs. “But I can’t do any of that if you leave me, Elena, so I am begging you to stay.”

“I love you.” I say through gritted teeth, her hair wrapped tight around my fist. “I love you so much it makes me insane. I love you so much it makes me dangerous. I love you so much that I would burn this world for you and all the people in it just to keep you all to myself. Do you understand me? If it comes down to a choice, you will choose me. I don’t give a fuck if it costs the remainder of your soul. You are mine and only mine.”

“You’d start a war for love?” “For Elena? I wouldn’t just start a war. I’d win it.”

Dear Mister or Missus Judge, my name is Caroline. Miss Kelly said I have lived here for fourteen months, but I told her it feels like fourteen years, and I’m only four years old, so that’s a long time. My very first free period here, my class went to the arcade, and I tried to win a toy from the claw machine, but I was too small to see inside. I used all my tokens and didn’t win anything. A really tall man saw me in the arcade and asked what I was trying to win. I said I didn’t know because I couldn’t see! So he lifted me up and asked me to choose a toy. I picked the purple bunny because purple is my favorite color, and guess what? The man won Mr. Bunny on his first try! A few days later, I saw the man again and ran to him because I wanted to show him that I still had Mr. Bunny. Miss Kelly got mad at me for disturbing him. She said he was a very important person, and I shouldn’t bother him while he’s doing adult business. He said his name was Mr. Reeves and that I could show him Mr. Bunny whenever I wanted. I started carrying around Mr. Bunny everywhere so I could show Mr. Reeves that I was taking good care of him. Mr. Reeves and Mr. Bunny were my only friends. Mr. Reeves never brought his own friends, but one day, he had a whole bunch of people with him. One of them was wearing a purple dress. Her name was Elena. Elena said that she was just friends with Mr. Reeves, but I knew that Mr. Reeves like liked her. Now guess what? She’s Mrs. Reeves, just like I said from the sta...