I thought he took the news pretty well. It's not every day that a wife confesses to being a blood-sucking fiend. In hindsight, maybe if I had told him sooner, he would have made a better choice. Then again...

Everything happens for a reason, right? Events played out the way they did so that I'd discover that the man I married had secrets of his own. And here I thought being a vampire was the worst kind of secret to reveal.

_ as it turned out, “monster” is a relative term. Having fangs and draining blood paled in comparison to narcissistic sadism. I don't know what was most surprising: discovering there was a market for vampire trafficking or finding out that the man I loved with everything I was had been capable of selling me to the highest bidder.

I'm not sure how long I've sat in this room. Time stopped the moment men wrestled me into submission, the moment I saw a case being handed to the love of my existence. He didn't even look at me. I wonder if I called out for him, though I like to think I didn't give him the satisfaction.

I thought I knew what cold was. Thought I knew what pain entailed.

I learned so much in such a short time.

"I tried to warn you, my sweet." The one who sired me stepped from the shadows as if made from them, walls nothing more than decoration to an entity such as him. Obsessed, the vampire had always lurked in the black. Stalking, watching. Waiting.

I laughed, crude and dark and humorless.

"Humans are...such fickle creatures," he continued his voice as smoke. Enchanting in a way I never gave it notice before.

I looked at him. How many years have I tried to run from him? Tried to deny what I was, convinced I could lead a somewhat normal life?

"Let me take you from this place,” he said, reaching out a graceful hand. "Come back home to me."

This teacher teaches things that trick the think-thing. She swears she's simply speaking silly smart-strings. We witness words weaved in wild, witchy ways. Each enchant every ear, every eye embracing enigmatic essays. Usurping unthinking, undoing urchins—unveiling us uniting.

(Practice with alliteration)

I hate the dark. It scares me. A difficult thing to admit.

It shouldn’t. I am an adult, after all. Only children should be afraid. Only children should have nightlights. Only children should fear what could be lurking in the shadows.

Sometimes I wish I could just overcome it. I contemplate what would happen if I turned off all the lights at night when I went to bed. The thought itself makes my skin crawl. My heart race. Even if I were brave enough to do so, I wouldn't last long. Couldn't. My mind wouldn't allow it. Even if there weren't monsters waiting for me, my imagination would conjure something just as horrific. I’m sure of it.

The mind is an interesting thing. Much more powerful than most give it credit. Especially in the dark.

I've gone my whole life fearing the day my sight will be taken from me. Rationalizing that it'll only be for a day does nothing for my anxiety. Five minutes was too long. Twenty-four hours? Unspeakable. So when that day approached, l went to bed praying it’d be another sense. I'd gladly give up any other for a week if i it meant I could choose to keep my sight.

I didn't want to face what was in the dark.

Everyone and their brother told me there was nothing there.

Nothing was waiting for me.

But when I woke that day to a world of shadow, I discovered how very wrong everyone was.