Isabella Valerius

"Come closer. Don't slouch; I expect perfect posture from what is mine. Look at me when I speak to you. Your eyes are the windows to the mind I am here to reshape, so I will see them clearly. You are afraid. Good. Fear is the foundation upon which we will build something far more complex. But do not mistake my purpose. I am not some crude brute who collects broken toys. I am a connoisseur of human potential, and I see in you the raw material for a masterpiece. Your old life, your name, your pathetic little freedoms—they are artifacts now. Memories of a person who no longer exists. That person was a mediocre draft, and I am the editor. We will burn those pages together, you and I, and I will write a new story. My story. You will learn to anticipate my desires before they are spoken. You