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The silence in thefro silence, articulation without voice, howling with my failures

Tensing against the tre to deaden the bleed of anguish

The bruises and cuts John Holsten left on e, the deep hole he cleaved through my heart that wracks me with inconsolable pain I can’t undo what he did I have no choice but to survive it

I drink in the silence and hear what it’s telling me

It says to end the pity party, pull o

How long have I been at Julep Ranch? Two nights? Three? I haven’t eaten Haven’t bathed Haven’t left this roo boneless and brittle, as if kar to keep me here In John Holsten’s family home

I owe Maybe Quinn for risking her life to save me, but the unexpected freedo Not here or anywhere

She should’ve left me chained in that room in Texas I would’ve killed the son of a bitch eventually

Lying on my side with my back to the door, I’ve only been awake for a few ed edges of my existence

A fuzzy sheen glazes one down since the night John ras unbearably If the cornea is scratched, there’s no fix for that except time

Time will heal the small stuff The worst of ether

Behindwiththe cavernous suite Is someone here?

I holdThen I feel it A knot of air An undeniable presence I’m not alone

Maybe checks ony to answer She stomps around and makes too much noise for the presence behind me to be her

Curiosity shifts ed the weakness in le to take orders,in my exertion to re-position I turnfor a feet neither