"I need to go to the port near Attica."

"Excuse me, Miss?"

"Please, I'll pay you in jewelry. Take everything I have. Just get me there."

"I can't just—"

"Please!"

…

Please…

Thalia scrambled up the side of the same cliff she and Ja'far had climbed on her first return to Attica. She didn't remember coming here. All she knew was that she must have taken a small fishing boat, and that her hands were blistered and bleeding. Every moment of her climb was excruciating. Her grip was slick with blood, and one of her hands slipped. Dangling precariously, she thought for a moment that she was going to die. But it didn't matter. She was going to die anyway. Four years from now, four seconds from now… her life was pointless all the same.

But she kept going, though she couldn't explain why. She swung her arm back toward the cliff, and she pulled herself up higher, higher, higher, climbing, clawing, scrambling alone, the same way she always had.

Except, this time, she got somewhere. She collapsed as soon as she reached the top, her face buried in the dirt. She was tired, so tired. She lay there for a long while, her breaths shallow and limbs heavy. Pointless. It was pointless. Everything was pointless.

But, for whatever reason, she got up anyway to carelessly wander through the streets. If the guards caught her, what could they do? Kill her? The idea that she would care whether she lived or died was absurd. After all, it didn't matter. Nothing did. As the sun began to set, she expected the streets to fill with defeated souls, people with demeanors not unlike her own, as they had last time, but they remained eerily silent. It was strange, she thought. There were no lights on in the houses she passed, not a soul in sight.

Where were her people?

She hadn't known where she was heading until she reached the entrance to the temple. It was then she understood. She couldn't die yet, not until she talked to the goddess one more time. Maybe it wasn't too late. Maybe if she prayed hard enough…

But first, she needed incense.

"High Priestess!"

Thalia called out for the woman who had set her on this path, but no one responded. Not her, not her acolytes. Treading through the temple, Thalia searched for them everywhere, even in the forbidden, holy areas. There was no one, just dozens of those small, red vials Amaltheia and Sappho had kept on their bookshelf. She checked the empty treasury and the priestesses' corridors, but the echoes of her own footsteps were her only company.

Dread settled in her stomach as she realized she had traveled half the length of the island in a day and had yet to meet a single person. It was as though everyone had vanished.

No.

Thalia cried out harder, her voice tearing from her throat. "Hello? Anyone!"

This wasn't happening.

"Please…"

How could an entire island just… disappear?

Night had fallen, casting long shadows on the wall, and Thalia had an idea. Maybe there was no one here, but from the entrance, she could see all the way to the docks on a clear night. If she looked out, she would see a sea of glimmering candlelit windows as her citizens prepared for bed. That was it! She rushed through the halls, her dirty dress trailing behind her, the clap of her sandals pounding against the marble floors.

Except, when she reached the portico, the only lights she saw were stars.

Thalia fell to her knees, tugging at her hair. Control… she needed control. She couldn't' even take her country back now. That opportunity was gone, taken from her by Barbarossa's government. Of course, Sinbad was having Attica practically handed to him on a silver platter. It was so typical. He was beloved by destiny, and she was despised. She was so despised, she had essentially been ejected from her pathetic, short fate. Now what was she supposed to do? Just let him take Attica?

She couldn't. The goddess had threatened him, told her that he would destroy the country.

She took out the knife Kayra had given her and turned it over, wondering what, exactly, it was. Kayra had said it could give her the power to stand up to Sinbad, but how? It was just a strange-looking blade.

Then, she remembered how it had absorbed Kayra's blood, and how the atmosphere around it had seemed to grow darker. Yes, it had some sort of power, and It needed blood. She pricked her finger, watching the crimson bead wrap around the blade like a vine. Then, it pulsed before disappearing into the jet black metal.

A jolt of energy flowed through the handle, flooding her with some sort of dark euphoria. It was empty and numb, but, for the first time, she felt truly powerful. Raising the knife, she pointed it toward a tree and willed the power back into the blade. The lush, green leaves began to fade to shriveled, black husks. Then, power sapped from her body, the knife stopped working. She walked over to the tree, touching one of the diseased branches. It dissolved into a cloud of black dust, disseminating into the wind.

Thalia's breath caught in her throat. This was from a single drop of blood. If she managed to use this in a battle… even Sinbad would have to acknowledge her as an opponent. She could stand up to him. She could take control of her life again. She could protect him, protect Attica…

"There you are." Thalia looked up to find a man approaching her in the dark. She held up her knife defensively, prepared to defend herself. "Ja'far said I might find you here."

Not just any man. It was Sinbad. His voice was as deep and rich as ever, but this time, instead of comforting her, it set her on edge. He was going to try to calm her down like he always did, but this wasn't some petty quarrel with Drakon. This was about keeping him safe from the goddess. She would do whatever it took to keep him from destroying Attica and himself along with it. Something was already wrong. Her people were missing, and her intuition told her that if it Barbarossa hadn't been making room for Sinbad's new country, they would still be here.

"How did you get here?" she demanded, brandishing the knife toward him.

He scratched his neck, his demeanor cheerful. "I flew here using Baal. When you never came back last night, your sister got worried and came to me. I admit I was a bit worried, but as long as you're safe, I—" His eyes locked on the knife, his disarming smile morphing into a frown. "Thalia, why are you pointing that at me? Put that thing away."

"No." She lifted her chin defiantly.

Raising his hands in surrender, he furrowed his eyebrows. "Come on, what's this about? It's me, Sinbad. We're friends."

She held the knife up higher as he took a step closer. "Stay back! I know what you're planning!"

"Planning?" He cocked his head to the side. "It seems there's been some kind of misunderstanding. Put down the knife, and let's talk."

Thalia let out a disbelieving huff. "Misunderstanding? Barbarossa offered to sell you Attica last night, didn't he?"

He drew in a sharp breath through his teeth. "You found out about that."

"And you're going to buy it, even though it was mine! It was my birthright, Sin!" She snarled at him, attempting to look threatening. She couldn't make him submit without the knife's power, and it needed blood. She was never going to be able to strike Sinbad, not as she was, but…

Thalia had blood. She could get it from herself.

As he took another step forward, she pointed the blade toward her stomach. Instantly, he drew back. "Please don't do anything rash. Come on. You know I would never hurt you."

"Then let me have my country." She brought the knife closer to her stomach. "Hand control over to me." She couldn't let him interfere, or the goddess would… "If you've ever valued me as anything other than a pawn, you'll return it to me."

He cast his eyes to the ground. "I'm sorry, Thalia. I can't. It's too late. This place is empty. Before he even made the offer to me, Barbarossa evicted the remaining citizens. There's no one left for you to rule."

"Bullshit!" Thalia stumbled backward. He was wrong. He had to be wrong. This was only temporary. She could fix this. She had to. "People will come back! As soon as you stop interfering with my fate, they'll come back!"

"And if they don't?" Sinbad reached out toward her hesitantly. "You can't run an empty country, but I already have thousands of citizens waiting for the opportunity to call this land their home. Besides, I didn't buy Attica for myself. I bought it for both of us. I'm asking you to marry me. That's what you wanted, isn't it?"

"It's too late for that!" She drew in a sharp breath. He reached out to her, but she pushed then knife into her stomach until it tore the fabric of her dress and drew blood. She was serious. She would fight him for Attica if it meant saving him from an angry goddess.

"Thalia, what the hell!" He dashed toward her, but she halted him in his tracks, sending the power flooding her veins toward him. He dropped to his knees, his veins bulging. His hands shot up to his throat as she struggled to breathe.

No.

He's not supposed to die.

She willed the power to stop flowing into the knife, but nothing happened.

He's not supposed to—

She dropped her weapon. As he pulled in a gasping inhale, she dashed toward him, throwing her arms around his recovering form.

"I'm" Gasp. "sorry!" Gasp. "I didn't know…" Gasp. "...it would do…" Gasp. "...that!" Gasp. I'm sorry!"

Now, she was the one who couldn't breathe. He hadn't seen her like this since after what Marcus had done. She was supposed to have gotten better. She didn't do this anymore; she didn't lose control. Lately, these attacks were coming back. This time, it wasn't Marcus that scared her, it was spending her life pretending to be a devout servant of Asena when she loathed the goddess's teachings with every fiber of her being. It was sharing a bed with a man she hardly knew and becoming the queen of a people that blamed her for their suffering. It was dying in four years. It was everything. But, most of all, it was losing Sinbad. There were no happy endings, not for them.

His arms wrapped around her, pulling her against his chest, and she crumbled. She buried her head in his neck, clinging to him with all her might.

"I'm sorry," Sinbad whispered when he caught his breath. His hand stroked her hair soothingly. "I acted carelessly with you again. You were already in such a fragile state, and I… I should have talked to you first."

"Stop… Stop trying to save me," she whimpered. "Can't you see we only ever hurt each other?"

She could see it clearly now, the pattern they were stuck in. The more he struggled to pull her into his destiny, the harder her own tried to reclaim her. He hadn't saved her from being raped that day they met. He had merely prolonged the inevitable. For every drop of affection he had poured into her, someone else tore a leak. Now, she was more empty than ever. She was broken, and the more he tried to put her back together, the more she cut him. Sinbad hadn't saved her. Not once.

"That's not true." His hand ran down her back, soothing and warm. "Things have been hard lately. There's a lot standing in the way, but I'm taking care of it."

"You can't!" Thalia shook her head. "When I came back to Attica… when I came back here…" She gestured to the entrance to the temple. "I had a vision."

His hand stopped moving, and he went rigid in her arms. "Thalia, you didn't have a vision."

"I did!" She jerked away from him, sitting back on her heels and hanging her head. "I know it sounds crazy. That's why I didn't tell you before."

He let out a quiet laugh. Thalia inhaled sharply as she realized he was mocking her.

"I'm not crazy!"

"No, I'm sorry. I'm not making fun of you. I'm just… so relieved." His hand lifted to cup her cheek. Gently, he guided her eyes back to his. "Because what you saw in there… it wasn't a vision. I wanted to tell you last night, but you ran away before I could. It was a merosh overdose. You were drugged."

Thalia's stomach lurched. That elixir she had been told to drink. It was nothing more than merosh? The ritual was a fraud?

"That's impossible. If it wasn't a vision… then those were all my own thoughts. I would never have come up with those types of things on my own." She drew in a shaky breath and grabbed the collar of his jacket, pointing at the statue inside. "I saw her kill you, Sinbad. She told me that you would destroy Attica. I've never for a moment believed—"

His gentle laughter met her ears. "You had a nightmare. That doesn't mean that you really think those things. But, even if part of you did believe I wasn't the best fit for Attica, wouldn't that be fine? I don't need your unwavering faith. You can doubt me." Leaning forward, he pressed his lips to her forehead. Her heart thudded in her chest, even as he pulled away. "I need you to doubt me. When we push each other to find better answers, that's when we work best."

"Then… everything I've been afraid of… everything I've done to push you away…"

"You didn't need to. You just need to learn to listen." He brought his thumb and forefinger to her forehead and flicked her. "That's your punishment."

Thalia brought her hand up, rubbing the sting away. "I almost killed you. Why aren't you angry? "

He shrugged, standing up. "You didn't mean to, but…" He walked over to the knife and picked it up, tucking it into his belt. "I would like to know where you got something this powerful."

"It was Kayra." Thalia kept her eyes trained on Sinbad as he crossed back over to her, squatting down in front of her. "She was the one who told me about you buying Attica. She gave it to me so that I'd be able to defend against you trying to control my destiny."

Sinbad's lips pressed into a grim line. "Thalia… Kayra is the one who made it possible for Barbarossa to sell me Attica in the first place. She had the deed to the land."

Thalia blinked back a fresh wave of tears. Kayra had said she loved Thalia, that she wanted to set things right, and Thalia had wanted so badly for it to be true.

"She's manipulating us." Thalia said bitterly. "I don't understand. Why would she—?"

Sinbad took Thalia's hand. "I don't know." Judging by his expression, he had his suspicions and was keeping quiet for her sake. His thumb glided over her fingers, stopping when it reached her engagement ring. "With everything that's happened, you don't need this anymore, do you?"

Thalia's stomach churned anxiously as she considered taking off the ring. Now that she had calmed down, she was able to think clearly. Once she cursed her destiny, there was no turning back. There was still a chance that if she stayed with Muu, the tug of war between her and Sinbad's fates would continue. Her people had been removed, not killed. Muu could help her find them. Sinbad's pull was strong, but, as Muu once said, destiny had a way of righting itself.

Maybe… maybe the ancestor she was supposed to bear would be another Sinbad— someone who could right the injustices of the world. Maybe her sacrifice would be worth it. She glanced at the knife tucked safely in his belt, recalling the sense of power and control it had given her. But the control had been an illusion, hadn't it? She had nearly killed the man she loved. Maybe it was better that she didn't have any special powers or abilities.

She opened her mouth to give her answer. "Sinbad, I—"

That's when it started: the screaming. Dozens of distinct voices wailing in agony. And it was coming from the direction of the palace.

No, the palace wasn't there anymore. It was that place, the one Ja'far hadn't been able to infiltrate.

"You hear that, right?"

Sinbad nodded grimly. "I'm going to check it out. You stay here."

It was too late. Thalia was already scrambling in the direction of her old home, taking a shortcut down a steep bank. The wound she had opened earlier released sharp pangs with every sudden movement, but she ignored it to keep going. Her people weren't all gone. There were some still here, and they were suffering.

"Thalia!" Sinbad stumbled down the hill more gracefully behind her, grabbing her by the elbow and pulling her back. "You can't go in there. It could be dangerous!"

"I won't die." Tugging her arm to free herself from his grasp, she kept going. "Not like this."

She hadn't ejected herself from the system, yet. She still had a role to play in some grander scheme, and it needed her alive for four more years. No, she wouldn't die like this. She could feel it.

"Besides, the fact that it's dangerous is exactly why we have to go together." She looked back at him over her shoulder. "You're not the only one who has someone to protect."

"Hm." He let out a small, defeated chuckle and caught up with her, taking her hand. This time, instead of holding her back, they climbed down the slope together. "I hope you realize, if you ever come back to the company, I'm docking a copper coin from your pay for every time you've made me worry about you."

She snorted. "Then, I'll just go work for someone who's not a tyrant. Problem solved."

As they reached the bottom of the hill, his fingers squeezed hers. "I missed you." Then, he let go and placed his hand on the concrete wall blocking their path. Barbwire lined the top, making climbing over impossible.

Thalia started to walk around, looking for the entrance, but Sinbad caught her by the wrist, tugging her to his side.

"We're taking a shortcut."

Thalia began to stupidly ask "how" only to have her question answered when he drew out his sword. "Djinn of Wrath and heroes, dwell within me! Baal!"

Of course. Sinbad could fly; that was how he had gotten on the island. Thalia winced as light enveloped him, his clothing giving way to scales beneath her fingers. When she opened her eyes, she kept them firmly trained on his face, recalling how distracting this djinn equip had been in Zepar's dungeon.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, clinging to him as her feet lifted off the ground. They easily overshot the wall, and Sinbad landed with her on the other side and released his djinn equip as Thalia glanced around, checking for guards.

There was no one, but the building in front of them was as grey and bland as the wall that had tried to keep them out. Small, barred windows dotted the otherwise featureless surface. They walked around the perimeter until they found a heavy-duty metal door hanging ajar.

"I guess there's no point in locking up if there's no one to keep out," he muttered, pulling out a torch from his pocket and lighting it.

Thalia nodded, peering inside to see what she could make out. The building was too dark to see much, but she could make out large cobwebs hanging from the… what were those?

Sinbad led the way into the room, shedding light on some sort of panel of buttons. Lining the walls of the room were tanks of green fluid. Tubes protruded from them like tentacles, snaking across the floor.

"What the hell is this?" Thalia asked, approaching a tank with something inside it. She read the accompanying plaque aloud: "Aldo Village. 6-year-old Male."

Sinbad brought his torch up to the glass and Thalia wiped the dust off it so they could better see.

What the…

"... the hell?"

Thalia stumbled backward into Sinbad, whose free arm wrapped around her protectively.

Inside the tank, floating in the green liquid was a tangled mess of limbs with the face of a small child. Its expression was contorted into a permanent scream. Thalia's stomach lurched. This was a person… maybe. At one point, it may have been, at least.

"What the hell happened here?" Sinbad's voice shook. "This is… human experimentation?"

Parthevia— no, Barbarossa… he was not just a barbarian. He was a monster. Aldo village was one of Parthevia's original holdings. That man was allowing such horrific experiments on his own people.

"How could someone do such a—"

"Hello?" The high priestess's voice came from deeper inside the building. "Princess, is that you? Help me! Oh, gods, please! Someone!"

Thalia spun around in the direction of the sound. Sinbad was already marching into the next room, his long legs carrying him at a brisk pace. Thalia ran to catch up, abruptly halting when he did. Thalia drew in a deep breath as he lifted his torch, illuminating what was unmistakably a gorgon.

"Princess… Princess, oh! Thank the goddess you've come to save me." She fell to her knees, tears welling up in her snake-eyes.

Sinbad made a stunned noise. "What… are you?"

A slight shuffling sound came from behind the gorgon as another creature approached the light. This one was not a gorgon, nor was it a human, nor a djinn, nor a dragon. This was something else entirely. Beady black eyes were scattered across its forehead, and its hair seemed to have fused with the skin on its chest and shoulders.

"Si… bad," it rasped from behind bars. "Sinbad…"

Thalia wedged her way in front of Sinbad protectively, only to have him tug her back behind him. Why did it know his name? Was it able to read minds like Zepar?

"Sinbad of Tison Village. It really is you, isn't it Sinbad?" The creature's lips creaked into a grin. "You've really grown a lot. You look just like your parents when they were your age. Welcome back, Sinbad."

"Sin, do you know this creature?" Thalia hissed.

He shook his head, eyes wide.

"Stay out of my way, crone." The gorgon shoved the giant creature aside. "They're some peasants from a backwater village in the barbarians' land. Princess, the others are beyond helping, but I—"

"Let it speak." Sinbad's voice boomed, cowing the high priestess. He turned to the giant creatures, shedding his torchlight on it. "How do you know me?"

"Ah," the creature sighed. "You wouldn't recognize me in this form. I'm stuck in this body, after all. It's me. I was always with you back in Tison village, even during your mother's final moments."

Recognition flickered in Sinbad's eyes.

"You're from Sinbad's village," Thalia said, stepping forward as Sinbad lowered the arm he'd been using to keep her safely behind him. Then you're also…"

"A-auntie." Sinbad trembled, though whether it was with fear or anger, Thalia couldn't tell. "What happened to you?"

The creature lowered its eyes. "It happened a few years after you left. Soldiers came to the village and started rounding up 'unpatriotic citizens' who had rebelled against the state of Parthevia. We were brought here to this facility."

Thalia shuddered as other creatures began to make their way into the range of the torch's illumination.

"This facility was used for the military's human experiments. They turned people into monsters, but we survived, even though we're in this state." Auntie turned her head to Thalia. "Many of those that passed through here were your citizens."

"Prince…" a snake hissed. Several of the creatures bowed their heads, and others quickly followed suit.

The creature gave her a kind smile. "I must say, you were quite the topic of discussion among those lot when they could still talk. They always believed you would come back."

"They are...?"

"Your citizens… or what's left of them. Most of them did not survive the experiments. The rest I'm told were executed." The creature hung its head.

Thalia blinked slowly as she processed Auntie's words. Barbarossa had executed her citizens. Parthevia had taken over Attica because she had run away. It was her fault. All of this was her fault.

"Not all of us." The gorgon shoved her way back into the light "Some were sent away to work the mines on the borders of Parthevia. If you let me out, I can show you where to find them on a map! We can rescue them!"

Maybe the high priestess was right. Maybe it wasn't too late to save some of her citizens… but the rest… so many dead… her fault…

"Sinbad, if we stay here, they will kill us," the creature sobbed, thick tears seeping from its beady eyes. "I don't want to die. Please save us! I heard about how successful you've become! Surely there's something you can do!"

Sinbad opened his mouth to speak, but all that came out was a strangled noise.

"Give us a second." Thalia grabbed him by the arm, dragging him out of the room. "We need a a moment to think."

"Please," Auntie begged one last time. Her pointed gingers wrapped around the bars of her cell. "Help us."

Thalia blinked back tears as she closed the metal door behind them. "I can't believe they've been doing this. The Parthevian government…" Thalia rubbed a tear off her cheek, amazed she had any left to cry. "How can they call themselves humans?"

Sinbad didn't respond. His breaths came fast and shallow, and he glanced at the door separating them from the people who wanted so desperately to be saved.

She could tell Sinbad didn't have answers, but she didn't either. Pacing back and forth, she asked the obvious question. "So, how do we get them out?"

"What do you mean? We can't save them." Sinbad shook his head, running his fingers through his hair. "Even if we set them free… they can't just go walking around like that. We'll never get them out of Parthevia. And if we try to talk to Barbarossa—"

"Don't!" Thalia whirled around to face him. "He, my sister, the people that follow them… they're the ones that did this. They won't just revoke the offer they made you about selling you the island. They'll turn against you. We don't have protection here. They could kill us." Kill Sinbad…

… like her vision.

But that had been a drug-induced nightmare. It wasn't real. It wasn't.

"We have to leave." Sinbad turned to the exit, holding his hand out for Thalia to follow. "There's nothing we can do. We'll just pretend this never—"

What the hell was he saying? He was just going to leave them like this? Who knew what Parthevia was going to do to them? Probably kill them, and in the most heinous, drawn-out way possible.

"I am not leaving my people to suffer," she hissed. "Give me my knife."

He tilted his head, giving her a puzzled look. "Why would you need—"

It was too late. He stumbled backward as Thalia lunged, grabbing the hilt sticking out of his belt. She pulled back, watching the puzzled look on his face slowly morph into something inscrutable.

There was no way she and Sinbad could smuggle those creatures out. There was no way they would survive if she set them free to fend for themselves, either. She and Sinbad had no other options.

"Thalia…" Sinbad stared at her, understanding dawning on her face. "You can't… this isn't you."

"This is who I have to be." Thalia choked as she forced the words out. "I have to take responsibility for my people. I'll take care of yours, too. I'll return them to great flow. They'll be at peace there."

"What about you?" He took a step forward. "How will you live with yourself?"

Her grip tightened around the hilt of her weapon. "If I hadn't run away, this facility wouldn't be on my island. My people wouldn't be in the bodies of monsters." She shook her head. "I abandoned them once already. I'll rest easier knowing that this time I did something."

"Are you sure this is the right thing?" Sinbad wrapped his arms around himself, suppressing a shudder.

She knew the answer he wanted. He wanted her to tell him it was, that they didn't need to look back on tonight and wonder if they were monsters. She couldn't lie to him.

"No."

She reached out to take his torch, intending to leave him behind. He had witnessed violence before, but never anything this unjustified and senseless. Thalia was already damaged. It didn't matter if she replayed this moment in her dreams every night. She was used to that. Sinbad was different, though. He had healed.

"Can I borrow that?"

Shaking his head, he stepped forward. "No. I'm coming with you. You're not going through this alone."

Thalia opened her mouth to argue, but nothing came out. In truth, she didn't want to do this by herself. She had been alone long enough. Closing her jaw, she nodded. His hand wrapped around the door handle and when he pulled it open, the high priestess was already groveling.

"The people at the mines! We can repopulate Attica with them. It's not too late! If we work together and pray for forgiveness, the goddess will—"

The knife would need a lot of power to kill so many people at once. It would need a lot of blood.

Slowly, Thalia approached her and spoke in a low voice. "Your goddess turns those who have lost her favor into gorgons. If you wanted to be saved, you should have prayed to me."

The gorgon went pale. "You dare utter such blasphemy!"

"It seems I lost faith when I found out you poisoned me, High Priestess." Thalia took a deep, steadying breath. Her hand plunged through the bars, lodging the knife in the woman's stomach. The blood was hot and slick, and Thalia's stomach lurched as her empty stomach tried to purge itself. Then, that numb, calming sensation overtook her, and she twisted it, ignoring her victim's screams. More power. That was what she needed to do this. Once the high priestess's cries died down, Thalia turned to the others, who shrank away, pressing themselves against the wall.

"My friends, your faith in us has been misplaced. I'm afraid we currently do not have the power to help you." She yanked the knife out of her sacrifice and continued. "But, we will not leave you to an uncertain fate. I offer you a quick end. I fear the Parthevian Empire will not be so merciful."

Auntie spoke, falling to her knees. "I don't want to die. Please, there must be something you can do! Sinbad!"

Thalia responded for him. "Sinbad has no power here."

He lowered his head. "She's right. I'm sorry I couldn't save you, Auntie."

Thalia continued. "What power I once had was stripped from me when I was a child." She turned to the former citizens and soldiers of Attica. "I'm sorry I could not protect you."

Raising the knife, Thalia closed her eyes and sent the power pulsing through her back into the knife. "You have fought bravely. Go now, return to the rukh."

The screams were gutwrenching, and the more that leaked out of her, the more she felt the weight of them. Soon, another scream joined the chorus, and when all the others stopped, when the power had drained back out of her, when she had fallen to her knees and dropped the knife, that one scream persisted.

It was hers.