my darling dreadful thing.
dialogue prompts from my darling dreadful thing: a novel by johanna van veen.
you're different from what i expected.
some things are so horrible that the only sane response is a bit of madness.
the truth scares people. they're always afraid of what they can't explain.
children accept so much as normal, don't they?
you need never be alone again. i shall keep you safe.
they were onto something, those greeks.
poor little thing. you must have been terribly lonely.
it's very clear in my mind, but it doesn't sound very clear when i try to put it into words.
you were mine, and i was yours.
i can see i've touched a very sore spot. let's talk about someone else.
please. just a little while longer.
your feeling does you credit.
what could you possibly do to help me?
i suppose you must feel very pleased with yourself.
i'll never come back to you.
do you often feel violent toward people?
you know, you needn't stay with me.
you don't owe me anything.
hotel rooms are such strange places, don't you think?
what a sick little story.
all these years, i thought i was alone.
i only had _____ to teach me love.
forgive me. i didn't mean to laugh.
i thought if i could make the situation darkly funny, it would be easier to handle.
you're a blessing and a curse, aren't you?
please don't raise your voice at me.
i've no doubt that in your mind, it was all true.
do you think i do not know? do you think i'm stupid, as well as mad?
i'm trying to tell you everything, but you keep interrupting me.
every house has its own scent.
to speak of evil is to invite it in.
the house is very talkative.
arrogance is a greater threat to justice than evil and ineptitude.
remain always wary. ever-vigilant.
god hasn't yet given me much reason to believe in him.
you've seen right through me.
smoking is an acquired taste.
i like listening to you talk.
every house is entitled to its secrets.
you keep your cards close to your chest.
are you done interrogating me?
if i had my way, you'd never have to clean.
happy: such a funny little word, isn't it?
doing little has never agreed with me. it gives me too much time to dwell on things.
you've never looked more beautiful.
knowing and understanding: what is the difference?
some things must be experienced to be understood.
it seems to me that you are a little jealous.
i want to know everything there is to know about you.
i want to eat you up and drink you in.
there's a reason the word 'haunting' is rarely used in a positive way.
this is no place to raise a child.
i feel like you're being dishonest with me.
some things can't be talked about.
please, will you hold me?
how do you want to be held?
everything you say is interesting to me.
i don't want you to think all i ever went through was misery.
i told you this is how it would be, didn't i?
i'm going to make it alright. i promise.
remind me again why you thought this plan would work.
i'm not doing it all by myself. i've got you.
you've thought it all through, haven't you?
your hair is getting long.
let me help. let me bear it for a little while.
some things can only be learned through experience.
i can bear anything, if you're there to bear it with me.
i'm like a magpie. i like shiny things.
i read that in a library book.
i always suspected you didn't have a heart.
please don't look at me as if you don't know me.
my marriage was nothing like you seem to think it was.
if that was love, it came at much too steep a price.
you could charm the devil himself.
there's only so much disgrace and shame a person can suffer.
i could have helped you. you needn't have carried all this alone.
i've never had anyone i could trust enough to talk to before.
you must have felt so powerless.
does anyone know what you did?
everything i touch blackens and withers.
sometimes i think that all i am is what ____ made me.
you're kind and funny and smart. and so much more, besides.
you've got me all wrong, you know.
you don't have to say anything. i just wanted to tell you.
you're more than what _____ did to you.
maybe i'm already dead. maybe this is hell.
my love for you is as strong as death.
when you wake, please come haunt me.
you really are a funny one.
where will you go, if you won't come with me?
i don't much like to be beholden to anyone. it hasn't worked out so well for me before.
i don't think i deserve to be safe and happy.
