Page 188 of Uprising

All I can see are the pitch black eyes of a man so big, so domineering it feels like this entire world would bend to fit him.

He stares back at me but there’s no brutality in his eyes right now. There’s something so much softer.

“Sofia.”

The way he murmurs my name feels wrong. My body shouldn’t react to it, shouldn’t respond the way it does.

This man should petrify me more than every other and yet he does the complete opposite.

I shake my head, dropping my eyes and for the first time take in the blood that’s covering me. It’s soaked my clothes, it’s all over my skin.

My breath hitches.

I killed him. I killed that man. I know it’s what I intended, but now that I’ve done it, it feels so different. It feels too real.

I have to get it off. I have to get his blood off me.

Koen steps closer to me, not touching me but it still feels like he is.

“Sofia.” He says again, more softly, as if he can tell I’m about to break completely.

I shake my head, shut my eyes. I don’t want to be here. I don’t…

“Carlos.” Koen growls and a man crosses the space, running to us. “Get her out of here.”

“Yes boss.” The man says.

I shake my head once more. I don’t want to leave, I want to see that every one of those bastards are dead but I can’t stand here. My legs are shaking, my body is losing itself in the trauma and I can’t focus on anything.

I let out a whimper, my head feels too dizzy, my heart is beating too rapidly. I take a step back but it feels like my feet aren’t even on the ground anymore and as I start to slip into darkness I know it’s Koen’s arms that catch me.

That it’s him who carries me away. Not the man he called. Not one of the five men who raped me so long ago.

And worse than that, I don’t fight him, I don’t even try, I just let the darkness take me and let this man carry me away, trusting that he won’t hurt me. Trusting that he will keep me safe.