The Bad Guy

by Celia Aaron

Right before I lost sight of her, she turned and smiled at me, as if sending me a spark of hope. The spark lit an inferno. It blazed up and promised destruction for anything that got between us. She was mine. Even if I had to steal her.

“You aren’t the first to call me that, though I prefer high-functioning psychopath.”

“Where you’re concerned, I’ll be as creepy as necessary to make you happy.”

I’m drawn to your spark of darkness the same way you’re drawn to the ocean of mine. We aren’t magnets pulled together by a weak force; we create our own gravity for each other.”

“Every bad guy is the hero of his own tale.”

“How is it that I, a fucking psychopath, feel more for her than she feels for me?”

“Let’s just say that she’s going to keep running, but she’s fine with letting me catch her every so often.”