"happiness isn't cheap," he whispers. "it costs you."
"name your price," she said.
"bold... or stupid." there was no emotion on his face.
"i'll give anything. what do you want?" she was so pitifully desperate. her eyes were filled with it.
"you." he held out his hand. deal?
she grabbed it. "deal."
his eyes lit up. flames danced in his irises.
he almost laughed at the girl.
have you met the porcelain girl?
her eyes are glossed
and her skin shines
under the fluorescent lights of a hospital
"but they're okay," she repeats to herself.
no one knows what the words mean.
sometimes she laughs a familiar sound
similar to the man with horns
she met four years ago
"it's really been four years?" she asks, breathless.
"yes," he says.
they cannot hear him. they would not understand anyway,
who he is.
her bruises are not visible to them
not even under a black light
only her eyes and those with the ability can see them
the purple among the pale skin
the scars that cover her body like a cruel excuse for freckles
skin constellations
connect them, what do they make?
"a star," she answers.
they cannot hear her.
she dies internally every night
screams with blood falling off her lips
but they do not see her
the doll in human skin,
the human in doll skin
she sits upon his shelf
a collection
a collection of lost hopes and shattered dreams
he laughs.
"foolish girl," he says.
she does not answer.
silence,
silence is not strange
it would be foreign
if it did not occupy the chair beside her
"it was worth it."
"was it?" nothing human remained in his voice.
should i be writing this? she thinks.
"yes."
oh, but she got what she wanted.
happiness is given to those she loves
they were saved
after all, they were saved!
"but they're okay."
the nurse shakes his head.
she is a lost cause, he thinks.
"i am a lost cause," she repeats, startling him.
he runs to fetch someone.
who, she does not care.
it's over now.
"it's over now," she says.
"it's over."
yes, it's over.
the blood will never wash out from your hands
the warmth of the liquid will forever stick
"but it was worth it," she says to no one.
yes, but it was worth it.
she shattered her mind to save their's
and it was worth it.
not a day will go by that she will ever regret it
"you're selfish," he spats. "you saved them for your own happiness, not their's."
the nurse runs back in, someone following in after.
she knows him.
but he fades away
her mind is playing tricks on her again
he is not real
this is not real
she is not real
"this isn't real," she whispers.
he kneels beside her and assures her it is.
"this is real. i'm real. you're okay. you're all right."
he's lying to you, he says.
"you're lying to me," she says.
any hope remaining in the man's eyes left.
he says something to the nurse which sounded like melancholy
"you're lying to me."
yes, he says.
don't believe their lies.
"i won't believe your lies," she tells them.
there's no one there, she realizes with a start.
she hears a laugh and feels dizzy
she almost fights back this time
almost.
happiness isn't cheap, she hears.
it costs you.
