Page 171 of Once Upon a Fable

Diseased.

I tried to wash it away.

I became obsessive.

Days turned into weeks as I cleaned carpets and bleached bedding.

I scrubbed so fucking hard, the blood I cleaned up was replaced with my own, proving that I was the same as them.

I bled red. Same as them.

I was tainted. Same as them.

And when I looked in a mirror, all I saw was them.

A man intent on hurting others.

A man whohadhurt others.

So I smashed those mirrors for telling lies. I rained shards all over the floor for showing the truth.

The truth that I was a man alone.

Alone because hedeservedto be alone.

CHAPTER TEN

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HE STOOD BY THE window.

His silhouette menacing and dangerous in the dark. Meager moonlight etched shadows with silver, revealing the rope that had been around his ankle now lay loose and abandoned on his carpet bed.

I froze on the threshold. The plates I held trembled as fear skated down my back.

He’s untied himself.

Shit.

That shouldn’t have happened unless he was awake long enough to work the rope.

Which means...

Either he’d remembered who he was, or he’d lost himself completely to his nightmares. Either way, I was probably in trouble.

Looking over my shoulder, I debated backtracking to the kitchen. Of tiptoeing from the house and going for help now that he showed enough improvement to survive alone. But then I looked back at him. Truly looked, and my heart panged.

His shoulders rolled in the shadows, hands balled at his sides. His broken arm still bandaged with the splint. His entire aura spoke of someone who’d woken in a world he didn’t understand. Who needed a guide or at the very least...a friend.

But beneath that aura was another and another. Layers upon layers, twisting up a man who could snap at any moment.

Make a decision, Gem.

Leave or take a chance.

Each one came with consequences.

My idiotic heart couldn’t decide, but my feet chose for me. I backed up a step, taking the safe way, only to stiffen as he murmured, “I know you’re there.”