Claire’s POV
In. Out. In. Out. My ribs ache when my lungs expand too deeply, the healed but still sore wounds reminding me that the nightmare did not fully end when Jeremy pulled me from the ground.
I survived it. But surviving is not the same as forgetting.
Morgan and Kate are in jail. They cannot reach me. I know that, yet sometimes I imagine footsteps outside the door. I imagine the handle turning slowly. I imagine Morgan’s face appearing in the doorway with that terrible smile she wore when she said I needed to die. My fingers curl into the blanket, and a muffled cry leaves my throat, awakening me slightly.
No, they cannot hurt me anymore. I know it, but yet my throat burns, and a dull ache spreads through my entire body, the kind of deep soreness that makes it feel as though every
