Vivian
The first thing I felt was the drowning.
I was underwater.
Deep, dark, freezing water.
It filled my nose, my throat, my lungs.
I tried to kick, to swim up to the surface where the light was, but my legs were heavy. They wouldn't move.
“You deserve this.” a voice whispered in the water. “You are nothing.”
I knew this voice. Julian’s voice. It was Julian’s.
Then, the pain hit.
It wasn't a dull ache. It was a sharp, jagged fire that tore through my chest with every attempt to breathe.
My eyes flew open.
Bright. Too bright. White light burned my retinas.
I tried to gasp, to scream, but I couldn't. Something was shoved down my throat. A hard plastic tube.
It was choking me.
Panic exploded in my brain.
I was back there. Julian was strangling me. He was shoving something do
