Page 130 of Dead Girls Don’t Forget

“The fun’s just getting started,” he said, almost gently. “So… who wants to be next?”

The man behind me pressed closer, his hot breath on my neck. “I want this one.”

I would not learn his name until years later. John.

Thomas gave a low laugh. “Fine. But you owe me for her.” He turned toward Harmony. “This one I’ll break in myself.”

Harmony’s furious snarl tore through the house. It was raw, primal and nothing like her voice. Bones snapped and shifted under her skin. Clothes ripped. Golden fur burst across her body as her face pushed forward into a cougar’s snout. She dropped to all fours and launched herself at Thomas with a snarl that shook the walls.

She didn't stand a chance.

Thomas shifted in one fluid, terrifying motion — a massive wolf, twice her size. The fight was savage but short. A sickening thud. A pained yelp. Then Harmony collapsed back into her human form, naked and trembling on the floor.

I screamed her name as they took her. I fought like something feral, thrashing, clawing, biting, until a fist slammed into my face. The world tilted. My ears rang. John was on me before I had finished falling. He was first. Then others whose faces I would never forget and whose names I would learn much later.

Hours became nothing but pain, weight and voices.

“Look at me while I do it.”

Another man laughed. "She's just a kid."

I tried to disappear inside my head. Sometimes I almost made it. Then a boot came down on the side of my skull. My temple cracked against the floor, and everything went black.

When I woke, my jaw was broken, my mouth full of blood, and a different man was on top of me. One eye was swollen shut. Deep burning pain radiated through my lower body.

I stopped screaming. I stopped fighting. I simply endured.

Hours later, footsteps moved through the house. Liquid splashed across the floor. The sharp bite of gasoline cut through the haze.

“Burn, bitches,” a voice called.

The door slammed.

For a long moment I lay staring at the ceiling, too shattered to move. Then orange light flickered across the wall. Smoke rolled thick along the rafters.

The house was on fire.

I rolled onto my stomach, gasping as broken ribs ground together. Pain flared everywhere.

“Mhh… Mom?”

She lay a few feet away, eyes open and glassy. I dragged myself to her, each movement sending a jolt through my ribs. I shook her shoulder.

“Mmm… wake up.”

Her head lolled unnaturally. My throat tightened, as I reached up with trembling fingers and closed her eyes, leaving bloody smears on her lids.

Smoke thickened, stinging my eyes. I coughed, and the pain in my ribs nearly knocked me out again. I turned my head toward Harmony. She was curled near the overturned table, naked and motionless except for the faint rise and fall of her chest.

“Harm… nee…” I rasped, each word costing me. I dragged myself toward her. When I reached her, her eyes fluttered open.

“Sissy…” she whispered, voice hoarse. “I’m so sorry… I couldn’t protect you.”

“Don’,” I slurred. “Not… your faul’. Fire… we haff to go.”

She tried to lift her hand but couldn’t. Her glassy eyes met mine.

“I love you,” she breathed.