Page 82
Story: Peak Cruelty
She said she wasn’t the kind of girl who disappears.
She said taking her was a mistake.
She didn’t say why.
Hindsight’s cruel like that.It shows you the warning signs after they’ve done their job.
I run the moment back.Again.More slowly this time.
The look in her eyes.That man’s voice.The way her body folded—as though she was already bracing for what came next.
I should’ve killed them.All of them.I should’ve seen it coming.
But I didn’t.
Not because the signs weren’t there.Because I thought I already understood her.
I thought I was the one pulling the strings.
Turns out, I didn’t even make the cut.
She played it clean.Efficient.Like survival was second nature.
And me?I mistook it for something else.
That’s what I can’t get past.
Not the blood.Not the damage.
The fact that I got it wrong.
And I don’t let things stay wrong for long.
42
Marlowe
The first thing I feel is the cold.
Not fear.Not pain.Just cold.Deep, subdermal.Like I’ve been hollowed out and left on ice.Like something essential got scooped out of me and didn’t bother to leave a note.
The second thing I feel is cotton.In my mouth.In my brain.A thick, dense fog where memory should be.Everything’s slow.Muted.I’m not even sure if I’m awake until someone says my name.
Not gently.
“Marlowe.”
A slap comes next.Light.Just enough to make the room tilt.Just enough to make me realize there are men in it.Two, maybe three.A chair beneath me.My wrists tied.Ankles, too.
I don’t ask where I am.I know better than that.
The wallpaper is familiar.So is the carpet.The house smells like lavender and wood polish—exactly like it used to.
The last time I saw this wallpaper, I was wearing pearls and pretending to enjoy foie gras.
I’m home.
The house hasn’t changed.But I have.
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82 (Reading here)
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 118
- Page 119
- Page 120
- Page 121
- Page 122
- Page 123
- Page 124
- Page 125
- Page 126
- Page 127
- Page 128
- Page 129
- Page 130
- Page 131
- Page 132
- Page 133
- Page 134
- Page 135
- Page 136
- Page 137