All the Little Raindrops

by Mia Sheridan

Anger sharpens the mind. Fear clouds it.

“I meant what I said, Noelle. We leave here whole. It’s a promise. It belongs to us.”

She read between the lines . . . sprinkling just the right words in . . . like music . . . perfectly strung together.

Sweet Evan. She looked in his eyes, and she knew she loved him. In that very moment, she realized she did. And it might be sick and twisted, based on things love should never be based upon. But regardless, she loved him, and that love was right there, warming her heart as she guided him into her body.

I love you, and it’s why, when this is over, I’ll let you go. Again.

She felt blissful one moment and bereft the next, tears flowing from her eyes as she laughed. Her laughter turned to weeping, and still she gripped him. He was fine with both her joy and her sorrow. He didn’t need to question either. He simply held her through it. In that moment, Noelle didn’t care if it was right or wrong. It just was.

He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster.

“They say this is where the monsters are housed, but I know that’s not true. The true monsters? They’re out there.” He jerked his head toward the window. “And they run in packs. They always run in packs.”

Where there was evil, there was always money.

pillaged too.