Dubious Consent with "Hero"
No True Escape
Gaslighting as Romance
Prey/Predator Dynamics
Graphic Sexual Violence
Choosing the "Lesser Monster" as HEA
Dark HEA (not safe, not healthy, not conventional)
Heroine Breaks Before Surrender
No Redemption Arc
The Monster Wins
This is my life.It's built on nothing but a list of the most fucked-up trigger warnings.
And it's… just… who I am.
What can I say?
I wrote that story. I loved that story. I wanted to live that story. Wanted it so much, I walked into a copy of that maze on Caleb's island, ready to allow three attackers to have their way with me before finding my Helix at the center.
I did that willingly.
Craved it.
This is what sexually satisfies me.
This darkness is who I am.
This is the truth of my situation. The things I want—the thingI am—draws predators. That's why Derek raped me. I summoned him to me because I wanted what he was offering and he saw it. Somehow, he knew.
That Russian man in the maze. My second attacker. I don't know how to explain that one. I have no idea what that was. But the reason he got me? Yes, I do understand that. He got me because I wasthere. Getting off on weird kink.
And now… Ryan.
He doesn't make porn. He makes snuff films. And something about me told him that I was a candidate.
Who are you kidding, Scarletta? You told him you were a candidate. You practically begged him to strap your ankles into stirrups and fuck you blind.
If I want to run the maze, I have to deal with the monsters.
This is the truth of my sickness.
Helix kidnapped Lyra. He made her run the maze to prove she could survive it. Then he became the monster she could live with.
The darkness she could survive.
I look at Caleb. His eyes are still sad. "Are you OK?"
I don't answer, just look at Ryan. He's in full panic mode. He's been talking this whole time. Excuse after excuse. Lie after lie spewing from his mouth.
He was going to kill me.
