Page 15 of Only in the Dark
“I should’ve taken you to the basement, hung you up in the chains, and whipped you like you had done with me. But I wanted this done quickly so I could move on with my life, Mother,” I said bitterly. “That’s how little you mean to me.”
She tried to stand up but fell down. I heard little gasps while she struggled to breathe, and I knew she could no longer talk. I crouched down beside her. “Thanks for the information. I’ll make sure to grab the file before I burn this place to the ground. Oh, and don’t worry, I’ve already created a new identity with a solid backstory, and you’ve given her the business. Madelyn, your heir, sadly passed in the tragic fire.” I made a fake pouting face before standing up and grabbing the gas can I left behind the couch.
First, I took the key from Mother’s pocket and flew down the hall and into her office. She kept only one drawer locked, so I knew where to look. I shoved all of her case files in the bag I had put there, along with a closed folder with my name on it. I knew it hid my past, and I also knew I wasn’t going to open it until I was ready to kill someoneviciously. I’d never be able to come back once I did.
I slung my bag over my shoulder and poured the gasoline around the room, then paid special attention to Mother, whose body remained frozen but her eyes shifted so I knew she was aware.
“Goodbye,Lucy,” I said before pouring gasoline over her open mouth. I wanted the last thing she heard to be me rejecting the idea that she was ever a mom to me.
Then, I flicked a lighter open and flung it onto her body. I quickly hurried out the door, stopping to stare at the house as flames consumed the building in minutes.
I had to pretend everything was fine while heading to meet my boyfriend, Daniel. We had been together a while, and I decided it was time I told him some of the truth, mainly intending to out Mother and not myself. I had a way to spin it where I looked like the hero of the story, even if I was far from it. I wanted Daniel to accept me, to start a life together.
I met him at the hotel I had picked out and had him book, a swanky downtown building where I could hack the cameras and delete proof I had been there if things went south. I didn’t expect them to, but I kept a vial of thallium in my pocket just in case. I had more in my bag, which sat in my car, ready to leave with me. Daniel loved to travel, and I planned to invite him to travel the world with me. I believed I could curb my appetite for murder if he chose me. I believed love could conquer all.
My keycard let me into the room on the thirteenth floor, and Daniel had champagne set up at the edge of the bed, with rose petals on the comforter and floor. He was everything I dreamed of as a little girl.
“Perfect timing. I was about to change so we could head to the steakhouse downstairs shortly,” he said.He walked up to me and placed a kiss on my forehead, the brush of his lips lingering just long enough to soften my shoulders.. “You look upset. Are you okay?” he asked, his gaze searching my face as if trying to read the words I hadn’t spoken yet.
I walked to the bed and grabbed a glass of champagne, sipping it. “The woman who raised me is dead. I had to kill her, or she was going to kill me,” I said, looking up at him with pleading eyes. It wasn’t necessarily true, but I did live in fear that she’d snap one day.
He didn’t move to comfort me. Instead, he stepped back, eyes widening, and for the first time, a man’s fear of me left me hollow instead of powerful. “Why do you smell like a bonfire, Madelyn? I…you’re worrying me.”
“I had to protect myself, Daniel. You’ve got to believe me,” I said. He was my boyfriend. We talked about getting married. Why wouldn’t he side with me? I trusted him. I saw our future together. He wanted a white-picket fence, two kids, and a house in the suburbs, like me. I could give that to him. I stood, letting the silence stretch, and took a slow step toward him. His eyes flickered—not quite fear, not quite doubt—before he began to edge backward, as though distance alone might protect him from whatever he thought I was capable of. “I think we should travel together for a while. Lie low. I love you, Daniel. I want to start a future together,” I explained. “Mother was a killer. I wanted no part in what she did, so I put a stop to it,” I lied.
“Youare a killer by your own admission. I can’t be with a killer; it’ll destroy my family’s image.” My fingers clenched into a fist before I loosened the muscles in my hands and reached for my pocket, verifying the poison was still there. “And what if you hurt me?” he questioned.
“I’d never hurt you,” I responded softly. I had him against the wall. I reached up and caressed his cheek with the back of my hand, watching as his breathing became more shallow. He feared me. He didn’t love me. He couldn’t.
I took a step back, prepared to leave without hurting him. I had places to go. I didn’t need him. I turned my back to him and walked to grab my bag, but he reached for me and shoved me to the ground, getting on top of me and placing his knee on my back, one hand pushing my face into the ground. He reached into my pocket and grabbed the vial I had stored there, and no matter how much I squirmed, I couldn’t get away to save myself. He gripped my hair and pulled until my face was near his, my neck contoured painfully. “The cops will love this. So much for you’d never hurt me, bitch,” he said, snarling in my face as his words hit home. He spit on my face before standing up and kicking me a few times. He stupidly turned his back to inspect the vial, and I got the strength to push myself up.
“Fuck you,” I said before kicking the back of his knee, knocking him down to his knees. I punched his face with the last remaining strength I could muster, watching as blood spurt from his nose and lip, his body falling backwards, unmoving when he landed.
“You’ll regret that,” he announced as I grabbed my bag and left, not caring that the vial had been left behind. Daniel had only ever known me as a redhead named Madelyn, who no longer existed. I left the wig on until I had long cleared the hotel—calmly, to not gather attention—then I threw it out in a nearby dumpster as I made my way back to my car and drove to my new life.
I’d regret nothing, but one day, Daniel would regret what he had done.
Olivia Mercer
Anxiety began to take hold as the room remained silent after I finished my story. My stalker said he supported me despite my past, but where was that support now? I felt the Daniel situation repeating itself and knew I was stupid to have trusted a man to keep his word. Maybe he thought he knew and accepted me as I was until he heard the story. Maybe he decided it was too much for him, thatIwas too much for him.
“He hurt you unprovoked?” he questioned, a calm yet threatening edge to his voice. The kind of calm before a storm.
“I deserved it. I’m a monster,” I responded.
I never thought of myself in that way until I retold the story. Reliving the memory reminded me of the people I had killed without warrant, and the way I had burned Mother’s body. She had her faults, but she raised me. I should’ve cared more about her than I did. Should’ve mourned the loss of her, but I didn’t.
“Don’t say that. You’re the furthest thing from a monster,” he spoke in a low growl, his expression tightening into a feral snarl. “If you hadn’t killed the woman who raised you, I’d kill her for you. She never deserved to breathe the same air as you. And whoever your father is, we’ll get him together. I can’t wait to watch my little serpent drenched in the blood of a fresh kill. It’ll drive me so wild, I’ll have no choice but to fuck you right there.”
His response surprised me. He had known me less than Daniel, but Daniel was ready to hurt me and turn me over to the police despite not knowing I had killed people beyond an abuser. My stalker knew everything; I couldn’t hide from him. It was as if he were connected directly to my mind.
“I don’t deserve the way you speak about me,” I ironically told my stalker. “You promised to unmask yourself. Show me. I’m ready,” I told him, taking a deep breath. This moment would change everything. Hell, what if he was ugly? Would I still want him because he accepted me? What if he was more deranged and dangerous than I thought, would I still take a chance? I couldn’t know until the mask came off.
“Don’t run,” he said. “I have a present for you.” He grabbed the bottom of the mask and ripped it off, taking away the Ghostface mask that turned me on so much and fulfilled fantasies I didn’t know I had. The beautiful face of someone I least expected filled my eyes instead, and my breath hitched as I took him in.
The man who gave me the best orgasms of my life was Kieran, my boyfriend’s brother.
DetectiveHarlowe accepted me as a murderer. Or was it a ploy to capture me? I wiggled my wrists, trying to loosen the handcuffs to break free. I refused to be captured and sent to prison. I’d rather die.
