Page 84 of Everdoll

“Aren’t you going to stab me, hmm? What happened to your damn courage, Mina? Need help?”

She didn’t move. I did, leaning slightly toward her. I caught her wrist, guiding her hand up to my lips. I slowly licked the edge of the knife while locking eyes with her.

A choked sound, part gasp and part sob, escaped her throat as she let go of the handle. But the knife didn’t fall cleanly; it tumbled through the air, nicking my upper lip before clattering to the floor.

“Ra…”

“Oh… Look, what you’ve done to me.”

A few drops of blood dripped from my lip, I wiped it away with the back of my hand, slow and careless. When I glanced at the blood on my fingers, crimson tugged a grin from me.

“I told you, I know you very well, Mina. You’ve always been like this. All you do is cause pain. To you, humans are nothing but your slaves. Even now…” I traced my lips with my tongue and felt the metallic taste. “You love watching me bleed for you, don’t you? Want me to cut deeper, my love?”

“No! I don’t! Stop!”

She instinctively stepped back as if I were contagious. I kept stalking toward her, each step forcing her backward until the edge of the mattress hit the back of her knees. She sank down onto the bed, now trapped.

“Stop…” Her whisper was much lower now. I leaned in until our faces were inches apart, then climbed onto the bed. Her gaze tracked every move of mine.

“You’re right, this is the real you. This is the girl I claim to love. You are the most disgusting, most despicable person I’ve ever known.”

Seeing her eyes widen and brows furrow, I smiled. She still reacts. Thank god. I continued in a deeper tone.

“All you care about is your own loneliness. You treat everyone who loves you as a tool. Even if they die, you’re not grieving for them; you’re grieving because you’re left alone. Just like you did with Bernova.”

As planned, I received a hard slap.

But Mina didn’t stop there. She pushed me to the ground, then I felt a weight on my body. She was on top of me, her legs dangling on either side of my chest. A moment later, she raised her fist and struck me in the face. Once, twice, three times…

“No! I didn’t do it! No! No! No!”

Her fists were weak; if she had hit someone else, their face might not have even moved, but I deliberately tilted my head to the right. I didn’t flinch, my face a blank mask as I absorbed each blow to my chest. Feeling a warm drop fall on my cheek, I calmly turned my eyes back to her.

Mina was sobbing, trying clumsily to wipe away her tears with the back of her hand, but the tears wouldn’t stop. She tried to bury them in her palms, but they slid helplessly down.

“I didn’t do it… Eli… she was…” She landed another weak punch on my chest. “You stupid Remi… I hate you. I hate myself.”

Upon hearing the familiar address, I smiled triumphantly.

“I love you.” At my whisper, her cries grew even louder. “Use me, direct your anger at me. Hurt me instead of yourself. Please, I beg you. This is the only way I can be useful to you.”

“No, you…”

“I know I’m not the cure for your soul,” my voice cracked, I forced myself to swallow. “So let me be its poison. Let me be the one whispering things in your mind, not your demons.”

Mina shook her head, her tears kept falling. I lifted her chin, then caressed her cheeks, whispering, “Please, my love…” Finding no resistance from her this time, I leaned close, brushing my lips softly against hers. The iron tang of blood on my tongue mingled with the heat of her tears, watering her cracked lips. I drew her lower lip into my mouth, sucking slowly, then I lingered on her chin. Opening my eyes, I stuck out my tongue, licking the salt from her wet cheeks. Tasting her sorrow made my head spin.

She looked so seductive like this. Disheveled, broken, dirty…

I leaned in to kiss her again, wanted that warm salty taste to spread through all my veins. I yearned for fangs I didn’t have, wished to bite her from head to toe and feel her fresh blood on my teeth. Wanted to feel her realness. I just realized there were still untouched parts in my sanctuary. Waiting to be worshipped, to be ruined…

“Stop…” she whispered, but I was too busy, too desperate. She pushed me back to the ground and climbed on top of me, raising her hand to slap me again, but I reached out and kissed her fingers. I didn’t care; no matter what Mina did, I should only place kisses on her skin; my lips seemed made for that purpose. She reached for my throat, tried to choke me this time, and I only shut my eyes close.

If my love could be measured by how much pain I was willing to endure, there were no limits for me.

After all, I was my mother’s precious ‘creation’. I was used to this pain, this abuse. At least this time it would come from the girl I loved. That dazzling raw sorrow of her I worshipped.

“Why? Why don’t you resist? You… how far will you go? What if I stabbed you? Would you just… do nothing?”