arrow streets, slicing throug

se blindly down the empty sidewalk. The rhythmic clack of her heels

ashing images. Nine years of memor

when she reached for his face, Gregory would always turn his head. He would

a weird psychological quirk from his childhood.

hit her with si

al intimacy pure for Angie. He was using Arianna's

ntense naus

d her shoulder against a cold

pocket and pulled out her phone.

s. No texts. Gregory hadn't even notice

d the phone back into her pocket. Her eyes burned

e wall and turned

ckering neon sign read The Aby

the heavy, pee

and decades of cigarette smoke. Heavy metal music bl

s. She dragged her suitcase all the way to the darkest

faded tattoos tossed a damp,

ed a fifty-dollar bill from her wal

u have," she ordered. Her

glass of cloudy, amber liqui

ted her head back and swallow

e swallowing broken glass.

hysical pain of the burn forced the tears out of her eyes. They

slid over. He smelled like u

d, aiming for her shoulder

ward him. Her eyes were d

ious customer. Without a second of hesitation, she

ttered ev

bottle and pointed the sharp, broke

eyes and saw a woman who had a

surrender and stumbled b

started wiping up the glass, his face bor

s from her wallet and dropped the

ring," sh

e needed the alcohol to kill the sound of G

began to blur. The heavy metal

cky wood of the bar. Her fingers traced

stomach viol

the floor. She stumbled blindly toward the back hal

ink. She dry-heaved, her body shaking viol

. She cupped her hands and splashed it directly

s of the sink and sl

er mascara was smeared under her eyes. H

he dispenser. She scrubbed her face s

The despair in her chest hardened,

d her shoulders back. The weak,

walked out of