Page 25 of A Smile Full of Lies
She thought she’d hidden it. She never had… not from me.
I typed out another reply.
StrayDog777
You’re not broken. You’re wired for intensity. For edge. Some people like gentle. Some like safe. You like danger… when it’s contained. There’s nothing wrong with that.
She stared at the message for a long time. Her eyes flicked side to side, rereading it. Her frown said she didn’t believe me, so I sent another message.
StrayDog777
There’s nothing wrong with you, sweetheart. You just need someone who understands what you want and why you want it.
She swallowed hard. Her thighs shifted under the blanket again.
My girl didn’t need fixing. She needed someone willing to give her what she wanted and hunt her like prey, and I hadjustthe mask for that.
Her next message was hesitant. Not scared, exactly, but shaken.
GraveyardGirl93
I know this is just an anonymous forum, but it feels like you see me. Like, really see me. It’s weird. I’ve used confessional forums like this before, and they never felt like this. No one else has ever made me feel like this.
Another pause. I stared at her blinking cursor in my keystroke logger and held my breath.
GraveyardGirl93
It’s kinda scary. But also… I don’t know. Nice. Like I’m not completely fucked up after all.
My mouth curved slowly.
Oh, sweetheart. You have no idea how seen you really are.
I watched her through both the live cam feeds running on my right-hand screen, one leg drawn up beneath her, hair falling forward as she stared at the screen. Her bottom lip caught between her teeth, fingers curled against the keyboard, like she was afraid typing anything more would crack something open inside her.
I leaned closer to my own screen and typed, my voice calm and reassuring beneath the mask of anonymity.
StrayDog777
It’s not weird. It means something inside you recognizes what it’s been waiting for. Feeling seen can be scary — but it also means you’re not alone anymore.
Her eyes welled with something: shame, relief, hunger, I didn’t know which. Maybe all of it. She sniffed once and snatched her Gran’s crumpled handkerchief off her nightstand, wiping her eyes and huffing a laugh like she couldn’t believe she was crying.
She pulled herself together and typed back.
GraveyardGirl93
I sound crazy.
I responded instantly.
StrayDog777
No, you sound honest.
She stared.
Thanks to my security feeds and the scoop-neck tee she’d worn to bed, I could see the heat rising as a pretty pink flush creeping up her chest again.
