“Is this what you want, Sunshine? You want to kill me?” Reaching out, I put two fingers on her wrist and lifted her arm so the blade sat against my throat. “If you’re going to kill me, then slit my throat, make sure it’s deep enough and a clean slice, or I’ll just be angry.”

Her lower lip trembled as I moved my hand away from hers and kept my hands out to the sides. “I don’t know….”

“You don’t know what, Sunshine? You don’t know if you want to kill me? You should want to. Isn’t that what society teaches you? Isn’t that what your school is training you to do? To kill those that threaten the rest? Wouldn’t it make the world safer with one less murdering psychopath destroyed?” Her hand trembled harder, and she backed away from me, tears trailing down her cheeks. I watched her take one step at a time until she reached the front door and fumbled with the lock behind her.

I didn’t move. I didn’t try to stop her. As soon as the door was open, she spun around like she was going to run and then stopped. Her whole body was shaking so hard that I could see her physically fighting off the reaction.

“Are you going to chase me, kill me, find me again,” she asked and looked over her shoulder at me.

“No, Sunshine, I’m not.” I didn’t know if I meant it forever, but I meant it at that moment. I needed her to pick me. I needed to know I was her choice. It was the only way ever truly to trust what we had. It was the last move on the chess board.

“You need to choose what life you want to live. You may not have come to me willingly, but I’ve shown you who I am, what I am, and I’ve never lied to you. With me, there are certain things that you need to accept, but I’ll always be here for you, and I’ll always treat you as the rare piece of art that you are. If you go back, you’re choosing to live a lie and hide who you really are and possibly the ability to feel like you do with me ever again, but it is your choice to make.”

“I don’t understand,” she said and turned around to face me, the knife pointing down to the ground. “You stalked me, practically raped me, and then kidnapped me all for what? Just to make me fall in love with you and then let me go.”

“You truly love me,” I asked, and the same possessiveness I always felt about her flared brighter in my chest with her second declaration of her feelings