Mary felt a sense of relief as she spoke to Ryan. After days of keeping her pain locked inside, she finally let her guard down. She had shown him the marks on her skin, the painful reminders of a struggle she could never quite escape. She hadn't expected him to understand, but he did—at least, that's what she thought.
Ryan listened intently, his eyes soft with apparent empathy. "You don't have to go through this alone, Mary," he said gently. "I get it. I really do. You're not weak." His words, so tender, so sincere, soothed the edges of her raw nerves. For the first time in weeks, Mary felt like someone finally understood. She believed him—believed he cared.
"I just… I don't know what to do anymore," Mary confessed, her voice barely above a whisper. "It's hard to keep pretending everything's fine when it's not. My parents… they don't understand, and…" Her voice trailed off as the weight of her emotions nearly overwhelmed her.
"You don't have to pretend with me, Mary," Ryan replied, his voice calm and reassuring. "I'm here for you." He reached out, his hand hovering near hers, offering a comforting touch that made Mary feel like maybe—just maybe—there was hope for her after all.
What she didn't know, what she couldn't have known, was that Ryan was already calculating how to use her pain against her.
Later that evening, Ryan met with Mona at their usual spot in the corner of the schoolyard. It was a place where no one would overhear their conversation, a place where they could plot without fear of discovery.
"You won't believe the things Mary told me," Ryan began, a sick grin creeping onto his face. "She's struggling with so much, and she let me in—showed me everything. Her self-harm. Her fear. Her loneliness."
Mona raised an eyebrow, the faintest hint of amusement in her expression. "And?" she pressed, her tone cold.
"And I think it's time we used that," Ryan said, his voice low and steady. "She's so vulnerable, Mona. She trusts me now. She thinks I'm the only one who gets her." He paused, savoring the sense of control he was beginning to feel. "We can push her even further. Make her rely on me more. If we keep this up, she'll think she has no one else but me."
Mona's lips curled into a predatory smile. "That's the plan. But we need to make sure she never looks to anyone else for help. Let's start with a little isolation. I'll spread some rumors—make her classmates doubt her. They'll think she's a freak, a mess. Everyone will turn away from her, and she'll have no choice but to cling to you."
Ryan's eyes glinted with a dangerous excitement. "And then we push her over the edge," he said. "We'll make sure she feels even more alone, even more hopeless. She'll start to depend on me more than ever."
Mona chuckled darkly. "It'll be perfect. She'll think you're her savior, but in reality, we'll be controlling her every move."
Ryan nodded, but a flicker of doubt crossed his mind. "I mean… she's in a really bad place, Mona. I don't want to take it too far."
Mona shot him a sharp look, her voice biting. "You're acting like you care. You're in this for yourself, just like me. Don't forget that. If she's a little broken along the way, that's not our problem. We've got our own goals."
Ryan hesitated, but Mona's words worked their magic. He pushed the lingering doubts aside, his focus sharpening.
"Okay," he said finally, determination settling in his chest. "We do this together. I'll make her trust me even more. And you, Mona, you keep working your magic. She won't have anyone left but me."
Back in the halls of school, Mary walked from class to class, a soft smile on her face as she thought about Ryan's kind words. She was beginning to let herself believe in him, to believe that maybe there was someone who could make the pain go away.
But she couldn't see the danger looming ahead.
She didn't know that Mona was spreading whispers behind her back, twisting her words to make her appear weak, unstable, and unworthy of anyone's trust. She didn't know that every time Ryan touched her hand or spoke softly to her, he was deepening the trap she didn't even know she was in.
All Mary could feel was the warmth of Ryan's support, the way he made her feel like maybe, just maybe, she wasn't alone in the world. But little did she know, that support was nothing but a carefully crafted lie.