Sidetracked

But they’re looking for a monster.

Not a girl who loves red.

Not a girl who is falling in love.

Not a girl who died ten years ago

Then I head into the breakroom where Lana is drinking a coke, kicked back with her feet crossed at the ankles as she stares at the TV. I lean against the doorjamb, studying her easy grin.

She has no idea at how sick the world is. I hate that I can’t take her home right now. Hate that this got more complicated and now I need to stay. She’s the only thing keeping me sane right now.

He pulls out of me, and I clench my thighs together, already feeling the loss. And the mess. The mess I haven’t felt since…

I wait for the wave of nausea to wash over me.

I wait for the panic to seize me.

I wait for the buried memories to resurface and steal this moment away.

But it doesn’t happen.

Another grin curls my lips. He’s just healed another small piece of me

“It’s amazing you survived.”

He has no idea.

“I flat-lined twice. Technically I died twice. Then I was reborn. At least that’s how I like to think of it.”

My blood painted the streets that night.”

Lindy’s scars don’t run as deep or painful as mine. One man ruined her.

So many more took a piece of me.

But the pain is just the same. Just as scary. Just as unrelenting

“Kill all the monsters,” she whispers. “That way they don’t hurt anyone else.”

Lindy’s breath catches, and I frown. I hope her influence outshines mine in the long run.

“I’ll kill them all so you never have to,” I whisper back, even though it’s highly unlikely that it’s the right thing to say.

“Good.”

It’s the first time I’ve faced my past with a face I didn’t want to cut off.

It hurts as much as it heals.

Antonio left me when he believed Kyle. Kyle said I had sex with him. I told my husband I was…raped. He believed my rapist over me. Just left me.”

It’s Lana now. They killed Victoria that night,”