Made Monster by Charlotte Powers

Author:Charlotte Powers [Powers, Charlotte]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: anonymous
Published: 2025-02-14T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirty

Olivia

The next few days, I run. I run like I used to at Ironwood, like I am running for my life, like the hounds of hell are snapping at my heels. I run because Satan himself bought me the shoes to do so, and somehow he got my size perfectly right. Each day, I clock up a half marathon, locked away in his gym. We have become two strangers living together, two roommates avoiding each other and managing it perfectly well. I have learned his movements, his time in the kitchen, the way music pulses from his room when he’s inside it, and when he leaves, the ding of the elevator when night falls fills me with anxiety. Where does he go when he leaves? And even worse: who is he seeing?

The silence is unbearable at times, and I understand Alessandrio’s bitterness. He and Emilio have spent a year as they are, hidden away from the world, only finding acceptance in a society of other monsters who can hide behind the faces of men. The heavy music would drown out the silence, the gym would exhaust him, and the binoculars allow him to watch the world go by. I too find myself drawn to the binoculars, but they only make me feel lonelier as I watch people in the bar across from his window socializing and living—being normal. Whatever that is.

I have officially lost track of the days when I find a note on the counter one morning. The door to the gym is closed and I know if I tried the handle, it would be locked.

Party tomorrow night.

Donatella will be here at 5:30 to prepare you.

Prepare me? Like I am some piece of meat waiting to be stuffed and put on the stove. I like the old lady. She’s kind and her hands are gentle despite the firmness of her voice.

“But I don’t need her help anymore,” I say to no one as I reach for the pen and scribble a reply.

Tell her not to bother. I can manage my own ‘preparations’ from here.

And I can. I’ve watched her with a childish curiosity as she used the makeup and the hair tools, turning me into a woman of their world. I can manage it, and I know if I mess it up, my fiancé will tell me as much. Annoyed that he couldn’t be bothered to tell me this in person, I toss the paper and pen down haphazardly. I don’t want to see him anyway, I remind myself. When I let him almost bring me to orgasm, a line had been drawn in the sand, and a part of me is glad he stopped. Reaching a high like that with his expert fingers would have made this curiosity I have harder to ignore. It was blurring lines—being around him was confusing me. Just looking at his face, the way in some lights and angles, I see what could be beneath it all. The way his eyes still

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.