tricks of time ― grayson hawthorne [the inheritance games]

024. I AM A MONSTER

I furrow my brows. "Really? Can I see?" I ask, outstretching my hand for her phone. She nods and hands it to me as I start reading.

𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝚃𝙴𝚇𝙰𝙽 𝚁𝙸𝙳𝙴𝚁

𝙻𝙸𝚅𝙴 𝚄𝙿𝙳𝙰𝚃𝙴𝚂 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝙼𝙾𝚁𝙴 𝙸𝙽𝙵𝙾: 𝙰𝙳𝙻𝙴𝚁 𝚅. 𝙲𝙾𝚁𝙽𝙴𝙻𝙻

𝚆𝚁𝙸𝚃𝚃𝙴𝙽 𝙱𝚈 𝙰𝙽𝙽𝙰 𝙵𝙾𝙻𝙺

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝙰𝚍𝚕𝚎𝚛 𝚅. 𝙲𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚔 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚢. 𝙰𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚂𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚢, 𝙳𝚎𝚌𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝟹𝚛𝚍, 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚊 𝚏𝚎𝚠 𝚍𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝙳𝚎𝚌𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚃𝚎𝚡𝚊𝚗 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚖𝚞𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚕𝚘𝚝𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝.

𝙸𝚗 𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚖𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝙰𝚍𝚕𝚎𝚛 𝚅. 𝙲𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚕𝚕, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝚁𝚊𝚙𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚂𝚎𝚡𝚞𝚊𝚕 𝙰𝚜𝚜𝚊𝚞𝚕𝚝 𝚌𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚖 𝚋𝚢 𝙼𝚜. 𝙻𝚎𝚊𝚑 𝙰𝚍𝚕𝚎𝚛, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝙷𝚊𝚠𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚎 𝙷𝚎𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜. 𝙵𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎.

𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚌 𝙹𝚊𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝙲𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙻𝚎𝚊𝚑 𝙰𝚍𝚕𝚎𝚛? 𝙱𝚘𝚝𝚑 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚎𝚢 𝚢𝚎𝚝 𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚙 𝚜𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚘𝚕 𝙷𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝙲𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚢 𝙳𝚊𝚢. 𝙱𝚘𝚝𝚑 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚊𝚕𝚜𝚘 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚍𝚢 𝚒𝚗 𝙶𝚛𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝟷𝟷.

𝙵𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝙷𝚊𝚠𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚞𝚗𝚎, 𝙼𝚜. 𝙻𝚎𝚊𝚑 𝙰𝚍𝚕𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚙𝚒𝚌 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚌𝚞𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚞𝚋𝚕𝚒𝚌'𝚜 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚌𝚎𝚙𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚙𝚕𝚒𝚝. 𝙼𝚜. 𝙰𝚍𝚕𝚎𝚛, 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚎𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝟺𝟸 𝚋𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚠-𝚍𝚎𝚌𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚃𝚘𝚋𝚒𝚊𝚜 𝙷𝚊𝚠𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚎, 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙷𝚊𝚠𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚎 𝙷𝚎𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚊𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝟺 𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚑𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝟸 𝚍𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚊𝚐𝚘.

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚘𝚗 𝙽𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝟸𝟾𝚝𝚑. 𝙰𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚊 𝙾𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚐𝚊, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚠𝚢𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚞𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙼𝚜. 𝙰𝚍𝚕𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚘𝚛 t𝚛𝚒𝚊𝚕. 𝙼𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎, 𝙹𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚎 𝙱𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚝, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚠𝚢𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚞𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙼𝚛. 𝙲𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚗𝚘 𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚝, 𝙼𝚛. 𝙲𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚝.