The Cure To My Pain

can't

yed at the edges, and before I can even inhale again, my voice

arp, and laced with the kind of hatred I've grown used to-slices throu

falling out uneven and laced with fear, my eyes focused on the scu

voice far too casual for someone orchestrating cruelty. "Your job is just to dist

something that digs into the core of who I am and shatters every fragile piece

sperately, my voice so low it nearly disappears betwe

pped away the moment his

e a heavy punch lands against my ribs. My breath leaves me in a single sharp exhale, a sob escapin

now, like a teacher disciplining a student who forgot their homewor

park. The sound of a lighter fli

what's

o my feet like I weigh nothing at all. My legs wobble under me, my enti

he skin just below my collar

cre

lease-no

_____________

t of the dream like a g

n drowning. My fingers instinctively fly to my neck, brushing against the r

aded, but permanent. L

w, it still feels just as fresh and horrifying as

d sheets for my phone. The

f bed, my body aching in a way that has nothing to do with mu

house-this place we call a root-aren't up this early. That's part of why I

ites into my skin, shocking me awake, reminding me t

gings, tying my damp hair into a ponytail before heading toward Lina's

n in this place. She's twenty, stands at barely five-foot-two, with wavy brown hair and warm eyes that somehow still hold hope. She

er door once

ans

The lock's been broken for months, and no one cares

leg hanging off the side, hair tang

a child whining for attention and le

nking up at me with the tired rage of some

hen I'm dreaming about food?" s

e you always dre

h," she mumbles, already buryi

n. Get up. We have to be a

s herself off the bed and stumbles toward the b

there's an emergency. Today's different. We we

hanges suddenly and no one gives yo

r the thirty mouths it tries to feed and only one bathroom per floor. Gang members are divided by rank and age, scattered across vario

ng far too energetic for someone

refully. "You

mile and shrug.

om and wraps her arms around me in a hug

hing for you," she whisp

ay with a small smile. "I'm living with the w

her expression undoing a little bit of the cold I

ly then,"

ightly. "Come on. The jeep

are parked outside, engines rumbling. Every veh

pass. He's one of the only people in this world who hasn't made me fe

the warehouse-the place where all the meetings are held. It's an old, abandoned structure tucked into th

mbers from various roots file in, one by one. The air th

ything fa

alks

cl

r more than death itself. My breath catches. M

ers, squeezing my hand gen

st her more

, holding a mic. His calm smil

e reconnected with an old friend. With his help, we're expanding into a new town. I've selected certain members to relocate an

"A new leader will be assigned here. For th

de. "We're moving to a co

just means you're stuck