ce

like a hammer on

getting how to take in oxygen. My body went rigid, instinctivel

k in the mahogany door,

r diamond-encrusted manicure. Her very presence-the casual cruelty, the flaunted wealth-sent a violent shiver down my spine. She re

pure disdain. "I mean, seriously. She's a wal

The rough grain bit deep into my skin, but I

him to snap at her. I waited for him to defend me, just like he had done

passed. T

the crisp clinking of ice cubes

Instead, a heavy, exhaust

is voice was laced with an unfiltered, heavy annoyance. "Don't m

as if a giant, invisible hand had just reached int

d closer to him. Her perfectly manicured fingers reached out

tead, he shifted his weight and casually wrapp

e dripping with resentment, "is like taking care

through me like a

eless

n perfectly, silently obedient, all because he told me my silence brought him peace. I had turned myself into

ified that the newly repaired vocal cord

tremors were so severe that the sudden moveme

und of broken machinery. The undeniable proof of my defect. It amplified my

er my ears, desperately trying to

d snapped up. She looked sharply to

rain. I stumbled backward,

to a glass display cabi

clinic brochures vibrated off the edge and scatt

pushing Alexandria off his lap. He stoo

shoes against the floorboards sounded like

, overpowered my mental collapse. I spun around and sprin

the deadbolt into place, and collapsed onto the freezing tile floor

, I heard the heavy lo

e in the hallway. I could pictu

brochure. He let out a low, irritated click of his tongue, tossing

gh my jeans. I slowly lifted my head and looked at

white. I looked like a stray dog that

blood on the fabric from where my fingernails had torn

from my pocket. The screen lit u

a soun

d in my chest, though it made no sound. It was the

the letters disappear one by one, deleting the sentence, deleting the

g, you path