The Memory
329 Words
Chapter 4 – The Memory
She couldn’t sleep.
Every time her eyes closed, the memories returned—the cruel laughter, the slurs scribbled on her locker, the hands that shoved her against cold tile.
Nico’s voice echoing down the hallways.
“Don’t talk to her. She’s nothing.”
That boy had shaped her ruin.
Now he shaped her body under silk sheets.
The collar still burned her throat even though it lay forgotten on the nightstand.
She padded down the dark hall toward the library—somewhere she could breathe.
Books lined the shelves, untouched and expensive. She ran her fingers along the spines and tried to feel human again.
Behind her: footsteps.
“I thought you’d come here,” Nico’s voice said.
She froze. “Why?”
“You always ran to books when I broke you.”
She turned, fury flaring. “You destroyed me.”
He didn’t deny it. Just took a slow step forward.
“You were innocent,” he said. “And I hated that. You looked at me like I was a monster—because I was. But you made me feel something real, and I couldn’t afford that.”
“You humiliated me.”
“I needed to make you hate me. It was safer.”
Tears blurred her vision. “Safer for who? Me? Or you?”
He didn’t answer.
He just stepped closer, brushing a knuckle down her cheek. Her body betrayed her again—shivering, aching, wanting.
“I still hate you,” she whispered.
“I still dream of ruining you,” he replied.
Then he pinned her against the bookshelf, kissed her like it would kill them both.
His hands dragged her nightgown up. His mouth devoured every protest. Her nails scratched his back, not to push him away—but to pull him closer.
He lifted her effortlessly, her legs wrapping around him.
“You’re mine,” he growled against her throat.
She didn’t say no.
- Writer
