Leave Me Behind

by K.M. Moronova

There’s something in the way he stares at me, like a starved man who’s contemplating a heinous act. You don’t have to tell me there isn’t one good thought in his head.

My mom always said I was into bad guys. I doubt she knew I’d grow up to be into ones who clearly had psychological problems. The ones you don’t tell God about when you pray at church to forgive your sins—the ones with dark backstories and baggage.

“What God? Tonight, you only scream and cry for me. No God will bear witness to what I make of you.”

Hatred and desire aren’t so different. Both are an obsessive, all-consuming emotion. It’s a thin line to walk on.

“I’m going to fuck you hard and relentlessly. Until you cave to me. Until you beg me to come inside you and give your poor, sweet pussy some relief. You want that, don’t you, Bunny?”

He’s venom—poison injected directly into my veins.

I wouldn’t be a monster; she wouldn’t be a killer. We’d be normal, maybe in love.

“Careful who you let hold your heart, Gallows. There are wolves out there. You know the saying, right? Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, I’ll bury you.”