I clutched my leg with both hands, curling into myself. Cold sweat dripped from my forehead, and my vision blurred with tears.
It hurt—God, it hurt so much.
That kind of pain dragged me straight back to hell, three years ago.
—The shadow of a wooden stick falling again and again under the dim light.
—The sound of bones snapping, tearing through the air like it was splitting apart.
—I had cried and begged, but their laughter only grew louder, more deranged.
“Don’t you dare tell anyone,” the woman had hissed, yanking my hair. “Someone told us to teach you a lesson.”
I started shaking, my mouth moving without control. “I’m sorry… please… I’m sorry…”
Even to my own ears, that voice sounded strange—like it belonged to another me, one that had crawled out from the depths of hell.
“Aria!
