med to enrage Sarah more

you!" she screamed, her voice ec

ad been forced to bring in earlier. It skidded across

? You think your silence

ot closer, the ship, which was a massive cruise liner, swayed with a par

nd for a split seco

hand shooting out to steady her. I caught her arm, my g

rom the sudden movement. Her eyes widened, a flicker of something I couldn't name-shock? confusion?-pas

ed her arm from my grasp as

d with venom. She regained her footing, he

ead cracking against the edge of the marble bathtub. A sharp, bright pain e

ut her anger had been replaced by that same strange, frozen expre

s a small, plastic-wrapped object. It was the last thing I had of my family. A tiny photograph of my pa

e found my other things-a watch from my father, a book from my mother-and bu

smile spread a

red, her voice a low pur

efore I could react. She held it between her thumb an

she said, her tone deceptively soft. "Af

ch was filled with steaming hot water for a bath she h

inst her nail, "This wound on your head loo

old. I knew wh

a large container of bath salts from the edge of the tub. She unscrewed the lid

that felt like my skull was on fire. I screamed, a raw, animal sound of p

she asked, her v

on fire with pain, and forced my face do

ed a thousand times over as the water hit the wound. I thrashed, my survival instincts kicking i

to go black, she yanked

ture of water and bile onto the floor.

that again,

hed my head

ible second, only to shove me back down into the torturous, s

vering, broken mess, unable to move, my body screaming in pro

ddled my hips, pinning me to the floor. Her face was

st my ear as she unbuckled my belt. "This isn't about love. This i

ated, another way to assert her complete and total dominance. As my body was invaded, the waves of pain from my head and the waves of v