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I was bigger than he was, and stronger than he was, but I ithout protest

Sher for us in the store that had been converted into his private office, a former photo studio now packed with lab equip on a wooden stool that had probably coh a microscope into a Petri dish He looked up when he heard our footsteps, a wide shted that you were able to joinas he did "Ronnie, thank you for passing er required"

"Yeah, I didn’t think they would be" Ronnie let go of my arm "Later, toots Try not to piss him off too bad today, okay? I don’t want to have to clean this place up again"

I blinked I hadn’t heard anything about needing to clean Sherman’s office The clailared at hi ideas above her station," he said ood idea if I didn’t let you spend any time with her alone for a little while, since you seem bound and determined to play the Disney Princess of this scenario"

"I don’t understand"

"Friend to all living things, s But what you fail to co things I want you to be a friend to me and me alone" Sherman reached out and tweaked a lock of hair that had fallen inshort and tidy and easy to care for You’re starting to look a little unkempt, my dear, and we both kno little tolerance I have for that"

I fought the urge to bat his hand away He wasn’t touching my skin, which meant that the dru him touch any part of me felt like a violation "I like my hair the way it is"

"Ah, but appearances must be maintained You know that It’s hoe fit into the world, snug as a needle fitting into an injection site Nothing that attracts attention of the wrong sort" Sherman delivered this little ser to the heathens, but knew they would catch on sooner or later As always, it ht out of his head

There was a ti, attractive even That was before I kneas a tapeworm, and before I kneas on the "kill all hurathe people I lovedhere is froet fro kind of attention, now that I knohat you are"

"You still don’t understand, do you?" He grabbed e or defendinto my skin, he continued: "My attention is the only attention you will ever need My approval is the only approval you should ever crave I am your perfect other half, Sal, and the sooner you co yourself over in e, the sooner we’ll be able to o!" I struggled against his grasp, but he held fir bit by bit to fall into synch with his pulse As always, the feeling leftwith my inner ear "You don’t have to do this You don’t have to… to…" The sentence seehtened his hand a littleto hurt, and I would probably have a bruise the next day, so to commemorate our little encounter "I do have to do this, because you etically "Besides, anesthesia is expensive, and you’re so s my way It’s truly a pity that it never seeed me across the room to a chair that looked like it had been stolen frole I knew that chair It had started to feature pro to hellish proportions with every new appearance The real chair was sreen vinyl instead of burning hus were exactly the sao," said Sher my wrist as he shoved me into the chair I tumbled helplessly, unable to resist the pull of my slowed,restraints acrossit hard to breathe, but only barely; as long as he didn’t kill me, my comfort was not his concern

"Still don’t kno you do that," I mumbled My lips felt like they were made of lead, too heavy to operate properly and only technically grafted onto my body

"We are the music makers, and we are the dreaive me a peck on the forehead "If I tell you how much I am your superior, will you finally cease this pointless atteainst me?"

I couldn’t answer I just looked at hiree for the chance to tell me all about his brilliance for a while now, and this was enough of an opening that he couldn’t resist He picked up a drill, giving its trigger an experimental pull And then, after the sound had passed, he told me