Page 34 of What Goes Around

I tried again.

And again.

Then I pressed my face into the pillow and screamed, the sound muffled and jagged, tearing through my throat until it burned.

“What did I do?” I choked. “What the fuck did I do?!”

My whole body felt like it was coming apart.

I deserved it.

Every second of it.

I deserved worse.

“I’m so sorry, my love,” I choked out, my voice breaking completely. “God… I’m so fucking sorry.”

Chapter 11: It Was You

Five years in Captivity, Age 27

I was shaking so hard my bones felt like they might crack. My skin burned, slick with sweat, every breath scraping my throat raw.

Detox.

Again.

It always felt like dying, only slower.

My muscles twitched uncontrollably, jerking without warning. Nausea rolled through me in violent waves until I gagged, dry and useless. Every nerve felt exposed, like even the air brushing my skin was too much.

Cold one moment. Burning the next.

My teeth chattered, then heat surged through me, sweat soaking the thin fabric clinging to my body. My heart hammered unevenly, too fast, too hard.

I curled into myself on the thin mattress, arms wrapped around my stomach, trying to breathe through the tremors ripping down my spine. My legs wouldn’t stay still. Nothing would.

The door opened.

Harsh white light flooded the room, blinding after the dim.

I flinched, bracing myself.

Another client.

Another night to survive.

But then—

"Well," Apple said lightly, "look at you. I almost didn’t recognize you."

My entire body went still.

For a heartbeat, I thought I was hallucinating.

Detox did that sometimes. Faces. Voices. People my mind dragged out of the past just to torture me a little more.

But the sound of her heels clicking against the concrete was real.