Page 201 of The Monster and the Masochist

She made soft soothing sounds as she gathered me up in her arms, cradling me against her chest as she got to her feet.

“You’re okay. You’re safe now. I’m here. I’m here, and I promise I’ll never let you go,” she whispered. I wanted to say thank you, but I couldn’t form words. All I could do was cling to her as I cried helplessly into her shoulder.

She didn’t seem to mind, though. Humming gentle promises against the top of my head, she stepped past her monster and whatever was left of my demon on her way to the door of the quickly dissolving office.

She balanced me against her hip with one arm and used her free hand to unlock the door.

Pressing a kiss against the side of my head, she swung the door open and finally… I was free.

“Let’s go home,” she whispered.

Then she carried me out of the room I’d been trapped in for decades.

And she didn’t look back.

(Present Day)

‘Ikilled it,’ my monster purred as Theo slowly recovered from the flashback. It licked and sucked the blood off its curved claws as we watched my wife blink up at us with a confused, but relieved expression on her tear-stained face.

“Hey…” I smiled at her, stroking sweaty strands of her short, dark hair out of her face. “Welcome back.”

“Holy fuck… I think that… I think that worked,” she breathed. She was staring at me like she’d never seen me before, and my heart warmed at how much the darkness in her eyes seemed to have receded.

“Yeah?” I asked gently, and she swallowed but nodded.

“Yeah. Your monster… it ate him.”

“Oh really?” I grinned. “It told me it killed him. I didn’t realize it turned this little exercise into an entire buffet.”

Theo let out a low laugh, though she winced slightly, as if she were in pain. She looked exhausted. So run down and tired. It was to be expected. Nothing wore you out more than fighting your own demons. I knew from experience.

‘I told you I would feast on his bones,’ my monster rumbled happily, and I chuckled before leaning in to pull Theo’s arm around my shoulders so I could help her stand.

“Let’s get you in bed. We’ll crash in the guest room, then head home in the morning.”

Theo nodded, and I could tell she was fading quickly.

Now that the demon in her head had been vanquished, she would finally be able to sleep without worrying that he would hurt her in her dreams.

I’d been worried my plan wouldn’t work. I wasn’t a trained professional by any means, but the idea of having her actively lean into a flashback with the intention of revisualizing the outcome was something I’d done many times in my own healing journey.

I was thrilled that it had worked, and even more thrilled that it sounded like my monster had lent a helping hand.

It could have backfired, and it wasn’t usually a good idea to do shit like this without talking to a mental health professional first, but I’d been desperate. She’d literally been slipping through my fingers, and I was worried that if I didn’t do something, she would really hurt herself so badly that even I wouldn’t be able to save her.

But… it worked.

I knew we still had a long way to go.

Surviving something as horrible as what Theo had gone through was not something she’d ever be able to completely erase. It would always be a part of her. But, she could still heal. We could turn this open, bleeding lesion into a neat, silver scar. It could become something that was a reminder of battles fought and won, instead of an infected wound.

The house was quiet now as I carefully led Theo up the stairs. She left bloody footsteps with each step, and I resolved to clean and bandage her injuries once I had her in the guest bedroom Naomi had slept in when we’d all been staying here.

I didn’t know how she was going to fight the next day, with her feet as ruined as they were, but it was something I planned on talking to her about once she’d had a chance to get some sleep.

Slowly, I managed to get her up two flights of stairs and onto the large antique queen in the cozy, yet outdated bedroom.

She was barely holding on to consciousness as I kissed her on the forehead and informed her I was going to find a first aid kit.