For the first time he doesn’t ask the question.
He doesn’t have to since we both already know the answer.
My feet carry me to him before I consciously decide to move.
The theater is still buzzing around us, but all of it fades into the background.
There is only me, Tyler and what comes next.
When I stop in front of him, my voice is calm, the kind before a hurricane.
“Call the pilot.”
Tyler goes completely still.
I watch as the realization and understanding hit him.
My gaze doesn’t waver.
“Book the flight.”
The words come out harsher this time.
The fury inside me no longer needs to scream.
It knows exactly where it’s going.
Florida.
Back to where this started.
Back to the men who stole pieces of me.
Back to the men who thought they got away with it.
I feel my jaw aching from the strain and my hands ball into fists.
The past replays behind my eyes.
The feeling of being trapped.
Powerless.
Broken.
A victim.
The girl they dragged into the dark died a long time ago.
What stands here now is something else entirely.
Something they created.
Something they’ll never see coming.
Tyler’s eyes never leave mine.
A slow smile pulls at the corner of his mouth.
