I stood in the shower for a long time. We were at Arthur’s hotel that he had gotten. It was one of those pointlessly expensive places. Useless splendor, overpriced everything.
Arthur had given me some clothes to wear that he had bought from a nearby store for when I was done cleaning myself. But I felt as if I would never be done.
Blood stains, memories. Temporary, permanent. I wished that I could wash the memories away like the blood that had dried on my hands and wrist. Some of it was probably hers, mixed in with the rest.
I had taken out the ponytail that Valentina had put my hair in, and found myself crying the entire time. The poor girl. She hadn’t deserved that. She could’ve had a bright future. All of the captured people could have. They could’ve escaped. Gone to their families
