Reborn From Oblivion by Christia Muray

She'd caught the eye of some dangerous men. One afternoon, walking home from school along a lonely back road, she barely had time to react-a shadow darted out from the tangled bushes. Rough hands clamped over her mouth, cutting off her scream. Her eyes went wide with panic as she struggled and kicked, but she didn't stand a chance. He dragged her away, out of sight, all the way to an abandoned warehouse on the edge of town.

Inside, she found herself in a nightmare. Teenagers, boys and girls, trapped together—each one enduring horrors no one should ever face. Fear gripped her like a vice. On her first day, she hadn't been through their "inspection," so she was spared the worst of it, at least for the moment. But pain is pain, and humiliation cuts deep.

Her ribs were stomped until she heard something crack. She was forced to strip, her dignity crushed alongside her body. The pain was almost unbearable, but the shame was worse. And it didn't end there-she watched as other kids were abused by thugs in slick suits, their cruelty on full display. It was too much. She broke down completely, her face drained of color, her mind blank with terror.

Then, just when it seemed hope was gone, Nathan burst in with the police. They were saved.

But after two days locked in that warehouse-after seeing so much horror-she couldn't shake the trauma. Nightmares haunted her every night.

Nathan apologized again and again, his voice thick with guilt. "I'm sorry, sis. This is all my fault. If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have been there. I'll make it up to you, I swear."

He didn't really understand.

time heals

year, Nathalie and Nathan leaned on each other, the only family they had left. Nathan's patience and quiet care gently soothed her pain. In

built

of narrow-minded people, the sharp tongue of an unforgiving mother. But after what they'd survived, none of it seemed quite

needles, each one sharp and fresh. The worst of those days felt like

Nathan and, for the first time, truly saw the calm in his eyes. It

could let

far Nathan had come, the old wounds from that warehouse

the ground, sobbing for Nathan and the pain he'd carried all

"Nathalie."

shared past and walked over. "Don't