After Staining My Hand With Blood, He Left MeChapter 1
Melody's POV
Everyone else said Marcus Stokes was head-over-heels for me.
But unbeknownst to them, he cut both of my fiancé’s legs off and wrapped them in a gift box for my birthday just to force me into a relationship.
So, in revenge, I kidnapped him, snapped one of his tendons, and gouged out one of his eyes.
Even so, he didn’t get angry and even smiled at me.
“See?” he said. “I told you, we’re the same kind of people. Meant for each other.”
I smiled back. For some reason, his words made sense.
Eight years with him, and I’d seen things most people wouldn’t believe: blood and storms, a life of chaos.
Then one day, a woman appeared at his side: pale, immaculate, like she’d walked out of a painting. She wore a long white dress that made her look almost angelic.
“Marcus said,” she started, “you’re too dirty for him. Only someone like me deserves to stand with him.”
Yet I didn’t take her seriously. I just nodded and used a knife to ruin that pretty face.
“An angel, huh?” I said, as I carved. “I wonder if angels can be disfigured.”
Her screams were awful, but they sounded musical to me.
Grinning, I took a photo of her bloodied face and sent it to Marcus.
[Take your dog away,] I texted him.
——
In just ten minutes, he showed up with a gun tucked in his arm.
“What did you do?” he asked.
“I dealt with a disobedient dog,” I said. “Aren’t you supposed to be grateful?”
His brow tightened. The blind eye flashed a strange rage as he ground his teeth. “Melody, you can’t hit the dog without asking the owner. You’re being presumptuous.”
Impatient, I lit a cigarette and rubbed my ear. “What are you barking? I don’t hear you. Say that again.”
“Melody, you—” The woman, Judy Moss, clutched her ruined face and sobbed. “Marcus, kill her. Kill her for me! She ruined my face because she's jealous that you like me!”
When Marcus pulled her hand away and looked at the bloody scars, his eyes went bloodshot. He put the gun to my forehead, and the chamber clicked. His voice was colder than the muzzle as he said, “Melody, you’ve gone too far. She’s only a girl! She’s not like us!”
I smiled, pushed the barrel aside with my hand, and blew a smoke ring into his face. “So what? Are you going to kill me to avenge her?”
“Or—” I let the question hang, teasing. “Do you want to ruin my face, too, to make her feel better?”