p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: #121111; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21.6000003814697px;"This was supposed to be her new start. It's not fair! This was supposed to be as far away from emabsent daddy nothing's left upstairs she's checked out momma and bad bad bad it's nothing he just wasn't too good to me Caleb/em as possible. This was supposed to be her new start. Why can't she fucking have that?!/p
p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: #121111; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21.6000003814697px;" /p
p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: #121111; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21.6000003814697px;"He just came in here and took stole from her like she was nothing./p
p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: #121111; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21.6000003814697px;"Why do they all believe she's nothing?/p
p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: #121111; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21.6000003814697px;"And Norman. Where is he? Why isn't he coming? /p
p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: #121111; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21.6000003814697px;"Oh no. Does he think she's nothing too? Is that why he didn't come downstairs when she screamed for help? Is she not worth helping? The one she thought could save her from this evil. The one who would kill before he let something hurt her. He's not here. She bore him and smiled, thought, knew he was emredemption/em. Where's redemption now?/p
p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: #121111; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21.6000003814697px;"Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Of course she couldn't depend on him of course she—/p
p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: #121111; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21.6000003814697px;"emWHACK!/em/p
p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: #121111; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21.6000003814697px;"Keith falls to the floor with a dead emflump/em and Norman is all fear and wide eyes and apologies and anger and guilt and for a second Norma thinks, emOf course he's come for me, of course my baby boy is here to save me how could I think he wouldn't how could I—/em /p
p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: #121111; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21.6000003814697px;"and then she rips the duct tape off her mouth and she is anger and focus because he should've been here sooner but she's mostly just sad mostly just tired when she tells him to grab the keys and uncuff her and cuff him up. /p
p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: #121111; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21.6000003814697px;"And Norman's in the hall getting her something to wrap for her hand and Keith wakes up and she gets the knife and she just wanted it to be over but he smiled, "You liked it."/p
p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: #121111; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21.6000003814697px;"She could've stopped at the first stab. It could've been enough./p
p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: #121111; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21.6000003814697px;"But Caleb could've stopped. em[/ememstab.]/em Keith em[pull out the knife]/em too. All em[again]/em of them. None would have been better em[push the knife in harder.]/em but that once was should've em[deeper.]/em stopped too. em[twist this time.]/em But they didn't. em[keep going.]/em/p
p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: #121111; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21.6000003814697px;"They didn't stop./p
p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: #121111; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21.6000003814697px;"em[hack.]/em/p
p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: #121111; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21.6000003814697px;"She won't either./p
p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: #121111; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21.6000003814697px;"em[hack.]/em/p
p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: #121111; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21.6000003814697px;""Mother!"/p
p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: #121111; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21.6000003814697px;"Norma looks up at Norman's terrified face. Looks to the body laying still beneath her hands./p
p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: #121111; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21.6000003814697px;""Norman, get me the first-aid kit, please."/p
p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: #121111; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21.6000003814697px;""But—"/p
p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: #121111; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21.6000003814697px;""Please." This time there is no room for talking back. Norman goes upstairs and Norma slides away from the mess, slides against the kitchen wall. Covers her face to make everything quiet for just one minute./p
p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: #121111; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21.6000003814697px;" /p
p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: #121111; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21.6000003814697px;"When she was in high school, her philosophy or theology or english teacher asked the class, "Is it better to out-monster the monster or be quietly devoured?" She can't remember what book they were reading. Frankenstein or the Bible or something. But she can remember that she didn't understand why everyone could choose their sides so easily. This was before all the worst things had happened. She didn't think that the world could be so black and white. /p
p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: #121111; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21.6000003814697px;"Most days, she's still not sure of her answer. Wonders why there can't be an in-between because with those choices it doesn't matter: you end up in a monster anyways./p
p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: #121111; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21.6000003814697px;"span id="docs-internal-guid-31eaf4c7-bc8a-c8e1-4c29-0feec3206a62"br /She peels her hands away from her face and looks at the blood caking her fingertips. Decides right now, even with her heart sinking into her stomach, and her ears ringing buzzing echo screaming, that today out-monstering is good. It is enough. In between her legs doesn't hurt anymore./span/p
p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: #121111; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21.6000003814697px;" /p
p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: #121111; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21.6000003814697px;"He just came in here and took stole from her like she was nothing./p
p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: #121111; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21.6000003814697px;"Why do they all believe she's nothing?/p
p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: #121111; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21.6000003814697px;"And Norman. Where is he? Why isn't he coming? /p
p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: #121111; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21.6000003814697px;"Oh no. Does he think she's nothing too? Is that why he didn't come downstairs when she screamed for help? Is she not worth helping? The one she thought could save her from this evil. The one who would kill before he let something hurt her. He's not here. She bore him and smiled, thought, knew he was emredemption/em. Where's redemption now?/p
p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: #121111; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21.6000003814697px;"Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Of course she couldn't depend on him of course she—/p
p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: #121111; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21.6000003814697px;"emWHACK!/em/p
p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: #121111; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21.6000003814697px;"Keith falls to the floor with a dead emflump/em and Norman is all fear and wide eyes and apologies and anger and guilt and for a second Norma thinks, emOf course he's come for me, of course my baby boy is here to save me how could I think he wouldn't how could I—/em /p
p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: #121111; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21.6000003814697px;"and then she rips the duct tape off her mouth and she is anger and focus because he should've been here sooner but she's mostly just sad mostly just tired when she tells him to grab the keys and uncuff her and cuff him up. /p
p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: #121111; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21.6000003814697px;"And Norman's in the hall getting her something to wrap for her hand and Keith wakes up and she gets the knife and she just wanted it to be over but he smiled, "You liked it."/p
p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: #121111; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21.6000003814697px;"She could've stopped at the first stab. It could've been enough./p
p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: #121111; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21.6000003814697px;"But Caleb could've stopped. em[/ememstab.]/em Keith em[pull out the knife]/em too. All em[again]/em of them. None would have been better em[push the knife in harder.]/em but that once was should've em[deeper.]/em stopped too. em[twist this time.]/em But they didn't. em[keep going.]/em/p
p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: #121111; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21.6000003814697px;"They didn't stop./p
p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: #121111; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21.6000003814697px;"em[hack.]/em/p
p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: #121111; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21.6000003814697px;"She won't either./p
p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: #121111; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21.6000003814697px;"em[hack.]/em/p
p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: #121111; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21.6000003814697px;""Mother!"/p
p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: #121111; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21.6000003814697px;"Norma looks up at Norman's terrified face. Looks to the body laying still beneath her hands./p
p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: #121111; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21.6000003814697px;""Norman, get me the first-aid kit, please."/p
p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: #121111; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21.6000003814697px;""But—"/p
p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: #121111; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21.6000003814697px;""Please." This time there is no room for talking back. Norman goes upstairs and Norma slides away from the mess, slides against the kitchen wall. Covers her face to make everything quiet for just one minute./p
p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: #121111; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21.6000003814697px;" /p
p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: #121111; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21.6000003814697px;"When she was in high school, her philosophy or theology or english teacher asked the class, "Is it better to out-monster the monster or be quietly devoured?" She can't remember what book they were reading. Frankenstein or the Bible or something. But she can remember that she didn't understand why everyone could choose their sides so easily. This was before all the worst things had happened. She didn't think that the world could be so black and white. /p
p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: #121111; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21.6000003814697px;"Most days, she's still not sure of her answer. Wonders why there can't be an in-between because with those choices it doesn't matter: you end up in a monster anyways./p
p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: #121111; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21.6000003814697px;"span id="docs-internal-guid-31eaf4c7-bc8a-c8e1-4c29-0feec3206a62"br /She peels her hands away from her face and looks at the blood caking her fingertips. Decides right now, even with her heart sinking into her stomach, and her ears ringing buzzing echo screaming, that today out-monstering is good. It is enough. In between her legs doesn't hurt anymore./span/p