You should be. I would tell you to run”— his strong hand clutches my throat, and I gasp as somersaults go off in my stomach—“ but I’d only catch you. And then I’d crush you.” “So crush me,” I breathe,

What do you need?” I bite out. “Wh-what do I need?” Her voice is out of breath and confused, and it only frustrates me more. “What’s it going to take to get you to follow some goddamn instructions?

He was unhinged. Shameless. Everything wrong and everything right. And he held the key to my cage in his palm.

His gaze, lowered toward the ground, slowly, leisurely drifts up, until it slams into mine with the heavy force of steel against steel. The green is back, emerald flames dancing behind clouds of black and grey. And with just that single look, his head slightly dipped, I know . . . Here, right now, I’m the one with all the power.

My hand. Is on. His penis.

You understand what I’m telling you, Tommy? You have a light inside you, and the only person who gets to decide whether that light shines or not is you.

You see, Emmy,” Frankie said, modeling one of the dolls and having it do a full body spin. “Now no one has to know.” “Know what?” “About the damage, of course. You show people what they want to see, and they’ll never suspect what’s underneath.

Now no one has to know.” “Know what?” “About the damage, of course. You show people what they want to see, and they’ll never suspect what’s underneath.

Darkness watches me from every angle. My only friend. From its own place within the silence, it speaks to me in a strange way. It whispers secrets in my ear, telling me this is where I’m meant to be. It’s so certain, not a trace of doubt. And I think . . . I think it may be right.

His eyes close, and he draws a long breath. When they open again, they’re colder than ever. “And that’s where you’d be disappointed, Lou.There is no good to be found in Death.