What It Means to be A Monster Pt. 2

“To cling to who you were is to deny what you’re becoming.”

Path of Exidus - Chapter 42: What It Means to be A Monster 

The machine lunged. I moved.

You smile, you laugh, you bleed like the rest of us — but every word out of your mouth is a blade turned backward.
You lie. You lie so cleanly that it tastes like truth.
You lie so gently that people mistake it for love.
That’s your nature. You pretend.

And I know what it means to be a monster.

You make people believe you’re harmless. You whisper what they want to hear, soft enough to calm them, sharp enough to bind them. You keep them close. You keep them blind. And while they dream, while they trust, while they cling to you — you hide the teeth.

You hide what you really are.

I know what it means to be a monster.

A liar isn’t human.
A liar doesn’t care who breaks, so long as the lie survives.
A liar wears a mask that smiles while the world burns.

That’s why you’re dangerous. That’s why you trick the ones you swore to protect.

But those words… those words don’t belong to you.

They belong to me.

I know what it means to be a monster.

I’m the one who hid.
I’m the one who deceived with promises I could never keep.
I’m the one who called it protection when it was only chains.
Every vow I spoke was a noose. Every kindness is a lie.

The mask I wear isn’t mercy. It isn’t kindness. It isn’t a strength.

It’s penance.

And still, she pays the price for it.
Still, I drag her closer to ruin.

I know what it means to be a monster.

The blade tore into me before the thought could finish, fire spilling through my ribs, my body jerking against the white-hot edge of it. My teeth ground together, breath catching ragged in my throat, and still I held the line.

I know what it means to be a monster.

Because the monster is me.
Because the blood is mine.
Because the sin is mine.

I know what it means to be a monster.

Because I am one.

And that’s all I’ll ever be.