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Paul? Paul was the one who hurt her? Thatbastard Did Jazz knoas locked up? Until Acer had ht Paul could be a threat to anyone The guy was thin, scrawny really, jumpy as fuck, and had those shifty eyes of someone always on the lookout for an attack

“He always thought people were out to get him He’d scan the street ten ti, or talk about outlandish conspiracy theories” She chuckled but the sound wasn’t one of humor “When I first met him as a kid, I wondered if he was some secret spy A James Bond type”

With a heavy sigh, she stopped pacing and walked around the coffee table She sat where Gumby had been seated before He almost offered her his spot on the couch but didn’t want to interrupt her thought process

“You’re doing great, Jazz,” Screw said He hadn’t ht next to Guether overwhelmed him

Ridiculous

“Thanks, but that was the easy part” She took a deep breath, straightened her shoulders and continued “One night, when I was thirteen,late They didn’t like leaving reatest area, but she really had no choice She couldn’t miss her shift, and my step-dad was on his way home I should have been alone twenty minutesmy homework, Paul came in It’d been a solid year since any of us had seen hiay and before I knew hiious caht or some nonsense Anyway, he hated his dad for it and only really ca I’m not sure where he spent the rest of his time I never wanted to know”

Gu further He supposed he’d been lucky to have been spared that fate Though if his old one that route, maybe he would have been the only one hurt…

“Paul looked awful Sweaty, and jittery, with circles under his eyes He kept saying that soet away”

Jazz began rubbing her left upper arht ahead though not actually seeing anything

“With each passing second, he grew more and more frantic until he suddenly froze and said it was too late to get away ‘H-he’s here,’ he said” She sed “And when I asked who he told me, ‘The Devil’” Jazz’s voice cracked and she shook her head “Sorry, I just…I need a minute”

God, his heart was going to split in two Screw’s too if the anguish in his eyes

“Take all the tied to say around the lump in his throat

She gave hi was seriously wrong with hiious undertones, but this was out there even for him When I asked him here the devil was, he turned on me and said… h-he was in et hi to use the act to buy herself another second “I re he o in the living rooet hoht he’d say so”

She fell silent Guht He knew the next words out of her , but words failed him

“What did he do to you, Jazz?” Screw asked, voice ragged

“He c-cut er at her left shoulder “Said I had to bleed to get the devil out of me” A tear rolled down her cheek, followed by another, and another “It wasn’t deep, but it hurt so bad I re until my throat was raw That’s howa bloody knife to ain for three years”

Jesus Christ He wanted to gather her in his arms and press his lips to that spot But he held back because this was about Jazz purging the poison, and her story wasn’t over “What did your parents do?”