Alone in the Dark, Volume II Part V: When the Mask Starts Glitching

Everything the relationship coaches and dating gurus tell you to look for, they have studied.

They know the language.
They know the traits.
They know how to perform decency.

They know how to mirror emotional intelligence long enough to secure access.

Until they start glitching.

That’s the only word that fits.

It’s like a program running out of battery. The mask flickers. The tone shifts. The warmth cools. You might think they’re just stressed. Just tired. Just having a bad day.

But what’s really happening is this:

They’re tired of performing.

Tired of pretending.
Tired of maintaining the character they built to catch you.

And if they have other “supply” lined up, they grow impatient. The discard phase accelerates. The devaluation intensifies.

They juggle people the way circus performers juggle pins.

They get sloppy sometimes, but their lies are rarely spontaneous. Most are premeditated. It’s a playbook, remember? There’s a general script for every scenario.

Unless you start seeing it before it happens.

Unless you are intuitive enough to dream it.

Throwing them off script unsettles them. It forces recalibration. It makes them nervous.

Which is why if you learn nothing else from this series, learn this:

Be quiet.

Be quiet for many reasons, but especially because once they know you see them, the danger can escalate.

Wearing the mask is their pride.
If it starts slipping, they will fight to secure it.

They cannot stand vulnerability.
They cannot stand situations they cannot control.
If they are sick, they resent weakness.
If you are thriving, they resent your growth.

None of them wants you to do better than them.

And if you get pulled into caretaking them when they are vulnerable, be careful. That is often where triangulation begins.

I found myself there.

Triangulated with another woman and his family. He never addressed his family’s disrespect toward me because the smear campaign had already been planted. And because chaos benefits them.

They feed off it.

They start fires and then watch others attack each other, believing they caused it.

Meanwhile, the one pretending to help extinguish the flames is the arsonist.

Does that sound familiar?

It’s like when relatives do something underhanded to you, then show up to “save” you so you feel indebted. And they will remind you of that debt forever.

All of this takes a toll.

Externally and internally.

Your cortisol rises.
Your blood pressure spikes.
Your hormones shift.
Inflammation builds.
Your skin changes.
Your body changes.

You are being drained.

And somehow they look refreshed.

They secure opportunities.
They appear favored.
They seem to advance while you decline.

It can feel like destiny is being rerouted.

Like something meant for you is being siphoned elsewhere.

Parents can do this.
Friends can do this.
Partners can do this.

The psychological toll is real. The body keeps score long before the mind catches up.

Then came another dream.

I saw my deceased cousin. He looked like his younger self. He was sitting in my living room. As I walked down the hallway, he said:

“Get him out of your life before it’s too late.”

In the dream, I turned around and saw my ex eavesdropping.

And suddenly it clicked.

The eavesdropping wasn’t just in the dream.

He had been listening the entire relationship.

Studying.
Collecting.
Adapting.

That dream wasn’t fear.

It was clarity.

And clarity is what saved me.

I got out.

And so can you.

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To be continued in Part VI of Alone in the Dark, Volume II