THE BLOOD RITUAL

The room was quiet except for the faint sound of rain tapping against the window. Outside, the streetlights had already come on, their pale glow stretching across the wet pavement.

For a few seconds, neither of us spoke.

Then I looked back at her.

"You really want to know?"

Her smile faded slightly.

"Yeah."

I lowered my eyes.

There were some things you could explain in a sentence.

There were others that took years.

Mine had taken almost everything I had.

I had spent a long time convincing myself that the past didn't matter anymore. That whatever happened back then was finished. That people left, people changed, and sometimes you simply had to accept it.

But the truth was much worse.

Some things don't stay in the past.

They follow you.