บท 350: The Real You

~ ZARA ~

"I didn't know I was going. It was a shock, realizing Ernst had been told to kill me to send me back. I mean, I've done it a couple times now, but both times I saw it coming. This time I woke up in pain and with him pleading for me to forgive him and… it was just gross."

Emory trailed off to barely a whisper by those last words. Her body tensed and she shivered, and against my better judgment, I was washed with compassion for her.

Ash had warned me I was going to die, and it still freaked me out. It was fucking painful, and traumatizing. And she'd done it two or three times now? Four?

"Wait… Ernst?"

"He's one of them, Zara. I knew that. I was okay with it. He was a good guy. He cared about me. But none of us can stand up to them, not really."

She swallowed and laid her head on her arms, but she kept whispering.