Tangled

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158

158 Ava: From the Past

"Ava, is that you?"

The familiar rasp has me frozen, my heart lurching into my throat. Slowly, I turn around, coming face-to-face with a ghost from my

past.

Our neighbor. Margot Mitchell.

Her once vibrant auburn hair is streaked with silver, her face a

roadmap of wrinkles and scars. It's her eyes that haunt me. Piercing green eyes that see everything and do nothing.

"Margot," I greet, my voice tight with caution. "What are you doing

here?"

She limps

toward me, her gait uneven from some injury she incurred long before I was born. I remember asking about it once, and my mother slapped the back of my head, admonishing me for my rudeness. "Oh, Ava. I'm

I tense as she reaches out, half-expecting her to grab me, to drag me back to the hellscape I escaped. But she merely places a hand on my arm, her touch feather-light.

"I'm sorry," she whispers, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. "I'm so sorry for everything. For not intervening when..." She trails off, her gaze flickering to the ground.

The shame she tries to portray leaves me feeling dirty. Unclean from her mere presence.

Memories flash through my mind, unbidden. Margot's face in the

$2.00

150 As from the Pant

window, watching as I was taunted and beaten, even by her own son. Listening at the front door as my parents berated me, their voices carrying through the window. Her figure rushing inside. when I tried beggi I was thirteen.

He broke my wrist.

hours that day. Hours. Until my parents, tired of my

always watching.

arm away, taking a step back. "You're sorry?" Anger surges through me, hot and bitter, fueling my words. "Why are you even saying that?

help you. Please." She grabs at my arm again. "We need you to

Ah. She needs something.

No wonder she's here.

miniscule, that was hopeful her apology was genuine. It's dead now, like so many other little parts of "How did you know I

"I am hired to clean the

From

your pack. So many of us are separated now. Taken from our

"I have no intention of helping you or anyone else. from

twisting into an ugly mask of rage. "You

into the room, her hackles. raised, teeth bared. She positions

I think she might actually shift and attack. My heart pounds against my

and Margot's demeanor changes instantly. She straightens, smoothing

again later," she says, her tone clipped. "We can talk when you've settled in." With that, she turns and flees the room, brushing past

to me, curiosity etched on her face. "Who

steady my racing heart. "An old

316

Aws: From the

I don't hear her. I'm already sinking to my knees, burying

as I tremble, overwhelmed by the unexpected confrontation with

vivid and visceral. The jeers and taunts of my packmates. The pain of their blows, both physical and emotional. The sinking realization that no one, not

doesn't stop the flood of emotions. Fear, anger, betrayal-they swirl inside me, a maelstrom threatening to

breaks through the

down. Meeting her concerned gaze,

to be ashamed of. If you're interested, just talk to me. Everything will be kept be Gratitude wells up inside me,

running my fingers through her soft fur. Her presence

From

edges of

you had to face that, she says, her voice a gentle caress in my mind. But you handled it with

escapes me. "Strength?

It's facing it head-on,