Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
Samantha
“ S amantha,” a voice pulls me from the pain. My entire body is coiled in agony. I open my eyes, and the tension leaks out of me. Above me is a dark sky dancing with lightning. I try to move my arms and head, but they’re strapped down tightly.
I begin to panic. Where am I? What’s happened?
A face leans into my view. Amber eyes look down at me. They’re so familiar. When he smiles, I forget my concerns.
“Samantha. Samantha. Samantha,” he says, chanting the name like a prayer as his face draws closer to mine. I notice the sutures on his head and around his neck and try to scream. It’s muffled because my mouth is filled with cloth.
“My wicked and lovely Samantha,” he says before pulling the cloth free. He kisses me desperately. Lightning hits, and I scream into his mouth as he growls, never stopping his lips on mine as we’re electrocuted. Tears trail from my eyes down the sides of my face.
“You taste different,” he says, pulling his mouth from mine. “ Metallic .” His words are raspy and deep. I see crooked lines of white electricity jump between our mouths as he pulls back.
He’s massive, and his hands grip both sides of the table I’m strapped to. His eyes appear to be glowing. He’s not human.
“Wh—” My mouth struggles around words for a moment. “Wha’ are…”
“What am I?” He smiles down at me. He bends down close.
“I’m your savior and your damnation,” he tells me. I don’t understand.
“Casper,” he whispers. The air in my lungs seems to expel as it comes back. My creation, my monster. Blood, corpses, lightning in the sky…water in my lungs.
Casper unbuckles my straps and pulls me into his arms. I feel strange. Words are difficult to pluck from my head. Memories feel as if they’re drowning in dark waves. My body is hard to move, my limbs hang lifelessly at my sides as he holds me.
“I’ve made you like me,” he explains. There are sutures around my wrists. I look at him in horror.
“Things will be difficult for a while, since I needed you and not someone new. I worry about your brain, Samantha, but there was no replacing it. Neither your face nor…several other parts.” He flashes a wicked grin that has my eyes widening and my heart racing.
“I’ll be here. I’ll help you. I’ll take care of you. Everything and anything, I will do that for you.” My lips quiver as I try to move my arms, and nothing happens. Casper doesn’t take his eyes off me.
“Aren’t I so gracious?” he asks, brushing his thumb across my lips. “I’ve let you keep your mouth. You weren’t as charitable. Then again…it was for very selfish reasons that I did that.” Then, he kisses me deeply again. I can barely move at all as he presses his tongue to mine.
Casper can talk. It makes me wonder how long I’ve been gone. I kiss him back as best I can. I thought I would never kiss him again, but he has given me life and brought us together once more.
“I can explain everything now. I love you, more than anyone else is capable.” Now I’m the one left voiceless, but I wish to tell him how much I love him too. I made the impossible possible and broke the laws of life and death to have him. My hands molded Casper, and each stitch is seared into my memory. When I’m not touching him, my palms feel empty.
My mouth opens, but it’s too hard to tell him all of this. My tongue is heavy, and the thoughts keep swirling in my head, the sentences ripped apart and rearranged into meanings that make little sense. Casper looks at me solemnly while his fingers brush my face.
“And I can also tell you what I’ve become,” he starts. His expression combined with how each word sounds grave, I don’t think I want to hear what he wants to say next.
“I tore into the guts and gore of your city.” There’s an ache in my chest. Before I know it, a tear has fallen from my eye. Casper watches its descent with a grim expression, but he’s determined to tell me all of this, to ensure I know the details of what he has done, as if confessing his sins to God.
“I’ve done such terrible things for you, Samantha. I’ve slaughtered and tortured in your name. I’ve ripped people limb from limb. I’ve tasted blood and I’ve dined on organs, and I did it all so you could come back to me.” I shake my head, my eyes wet—more tears are falling. Outside, I can hear the waves crashing against the island in a roar as the storm continues. Thunder growls and lightning flashes, illuminating our faces. How could someone so attractive be so twisted?
“As I said, I’m your salvation and your damnation. I’m your monster and always will be.” His teeth grind together, making his jaw flex. Despite the grim look on his face, the macabre holes from when I sewed his lips frame his mouth in the shape of a sinister smile. I can see every violent death in his eyes, haunting him. It makes the yellow power in his irises deepen and dim to amber.
“Samantha,” he whispers, pressing his forehead to mine. “I’m haunted by the things I’ve done.” I press my head harder against his—it’s the best I can do to comfort him. I wish I could lift my arms and hold him, push my fingers through his hair, count the stitches around his skull. My creation is pained, and I want to ease his ache.
“It frightens me that for every horror I inflicted,” he whispers, “my pleasure of it only grew.” I suck in a sharp breath. “You’re trembling again, my love. I love it when you do. Tremble in my arms for eternity.” Casper’s hold tightens around me like a vice.
“Please never leave me again. Make me whole, Samantha, make me good . Try to mold my soul with your hands and…I’ll pretend it works.” His guilt is replaced by an amused chuckle. The small laugh digs into my chest. He can laugh.
Casper pulls back and smiles down at me. The Smiling Sinner is here now—charming, sadistic, and damned.
I realize now that I should have never left him. Leaving resulted in terrible things. I made my fair share of mistakes, but I’ll learn from them. I’ll be by Casper’s side forever—for better or worse.
In all honesty, I can do nothing but love what I made, even if he horrifies me. Together, I hope we’ll be better people. Only time will tell if my hopes are fulfilled or if they spoil into rot.
It takes me a moment, but eventually, I’m able to nod. When I do, Casper’s entire body relaxes, and he lets out a sigh of relief. Then, he pulls me against him, holding me for the first night of my second life.
“I’ll take care of you,” he whispers over and over as time passes. “And I will love you with every fiber of my being and more.”