“Maybe she’d try to understand that the dark images muddled my brain until it hurt, until I had no choice but to let them out.”

Submissive, sure, but someone who wants it all the same.

I felt it. I heard the snap of my heart tearing in half. It wasn’t a messy, dirty rip like I’d expected, but a smooth, clean line that knew just where to break to hurt me the most.

Damaged people are dangerous. They know they can survive.

Pushing out a breath, I lean against the wall and slide to the floor. I sit beside her for as long as it takes. Listening until her sobs fade and the shower turns on.

Come to me in pieces and exist inside me whole.

I never knew hell would be so spick-and-span.

Instead of ignorance, I tasted what it might be like to finally be me. I didn’t give a show this time. I had no plan, no calculations. No scolding voice inside my head. For a little while, I was free.

The prince of darkness is a gentleman.

She wore her scars as her best attire. A stunning dress made of hellfire.

Art is a private piece of me.

There’s a reason we only hire blondes.

I suppose it was easier to pretend I didn’t exist than it was to exorcise my demons.

The darkness that surrounds us cannot hurt us. It is the darkness in your own heart you should fear.

Crawl inside this body, find me where I am most ruined— love me there.

I might have a fancy roof over my head and soap to wash away the dirt, but I’m still the same girl beneath. It’s important neither of us forget it.

I desire very little, but the things I do consume me.

A farewell to my shadow is not my death; it’s my rebirth in darkness.

And the days darken round me, and the years, Among new men, strange faces, other minds.

A beam in darkness: let it grow.

I keep sailing on in this middle passage. I am sailing into the wind and the dark. But I am doing my best to keep my boat steady and my sails full.

I keep sailing on in this middle passage. I am sailing into the wind and the dark. But I am doing my best to keep my boat steady and my sails full.

And men, whose reason long was blind, From cells of madness unconfined, Oft lose whole years of darker mind.

Only the moon’s smile can cure the unseen scars of darkness.

From the dark depths of my soul came an intense passion for prose.