ue lights flashing against the alley wall
him. He remembered the silver needles, the safe box
" Theodore calle
y, her silhouette backlit by the s
ore urged. "I must repay th
er voice cool and dist
ast life, loyalties had gotten her ki
slip away into the shadows. By the time the paramedics rushed p
searched the empty alley
Find her. I want to know where she came f
longer routine surveil
the cold window. Her muscles ached, and her shoulder throbbed from the fight.
aid in cash and climbed the narrow stairs to a
e drain. Afterward, she faced the cracked bathroom mirror. The reflection still startled her-a soft, unfamiliar
promised hersel
rs family-mostly threats and insults. June's expression didn't change. She blocked every number-Martha
villa, Martha pace
hoarse from yelling. "She actually dared to stay out a
mere throw. "Mom, don't be so angry. Maybe J
. "She'd better get her ass back here," he growled. "Ariana's physical is n
une was safe. They only
"She blocked us," Martha said, her voice trembling with rag
ial media?" Ariana suggested, her voice sy
she's not back by morning, I'm calling the
seventeen-year-old would eventually come crawling back. But
ther pace and decided
sine to redden her eyes, angled her phone, and snapped a selfie. She looked like t
est life possible. But last night, over a silly little argument, she just... ran away. She blocked all our numbers. I know she's always ha
sentences, Ariana painted her family as selfless savi
ents expressing anger toward th
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