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I blink three ti my vision

She’s gone

I turnin a pile of their own broken bones, clearly not going anywhere anytime soon

“If either of you even think of soto rob them, I swear I will track you down and break the rest of your bones…one by one And I won’t do it quickly”

But quickly is exactly how I get tooff in a dead sprint toward our apart to make sure she made it home safe

She’s …whether she knows it or not

2

Diana

I slam the deadbolt shut and fumble for the knife underneath my DVD of Beauty and the Beast that sits on the small end table just next to my door

Taking three steps back fro to slow as e

My training says I need to leave space in case the door co any would-be victi theht off a perpetrator

The thoughts in my head,law or self-defense books every waking minute I’m not at work

And that’s pretty h work occupies nearly all the hours in the day I’ one bit It’s better than the alternative, better than what I used to kno my life used to be

The new norh, but it’s worlds easier than the past

A slight noise shoots through the air in the hallway outside rip, but seconds later I hear the door next to mine quietly fall into its door ja into place and everything goes still