Victim

No
No
No

This couldn't be happening.

For a moment, time stood still. Then a hole ripped open in her chest, and it all came surging in, like air rushing to fill a vacuum-shock, guilt, horror, grief, disgust, panic, dread. It slammed against her ribcage, her lungs, her heart, and she could almost feel the bruises blooming, purple tattoos bleeding through her like spilled wine.

What?

A gasp escaped Marley's lips; she had expected something like this. But she wasn't prepared for it. Deep, buried feelings of previous grief she had experienced for her mother ate her, and she was entirely cocooned by it.

A low moan rumbled in her throat, and she fell to her knees. Shock and grief threatened to overwhelm her, consume her, eat her whole. Fresh new tears escaped her eyes and they fell to the ground, making puddles that seemed to drown her.

It was all her fault.
***
Marley wakes up tied, unable to move or speak. She is taken back to a place she'd thought she'd forgotten, having to relive the memories and abuse all over again.

Marley's best friend, Xander, ends up at the same place as Marley...but for a completely different reason.