Mina let it all out.
Tears streamed freely down her cheeks, soaking into the cracked tile floor beneath her.
Her body trembled with her gasping breath. Her sobs muffled only by the hands she pressed desperately to her mouth.
She remembered Jack's warning that she shouldn't be too loud. But the dam inside her had burst, and stopping it now felt impossible. But she still try as hard as she can to muffled her voice.
She clamped her lips tighter. She hunched forward. She curled herself smaller, as if she could vanish into her own body.
She didn't want to draw more monsters. She didn't want to make Jack angry. But most of all, she didn't want to feel this broken.
The pain came in sharp, staggering waves. She had been told this would happen. Jack had trained with her and looked her in the eye and said terrible things were coming.
He had taught her how to fight, how to survive. He had handed her a dagger and said to use it without hesitation.
