"YOU FUCKING BITCH, WHO DO YOU THINK YOU'RE TALKING TO?"
His words were distant, muffled by the ringing. Then his fingers were in my hair, a vicious yank that snapped my neck back, forcing the ceiling into my view. Tears, not from sadness, but from the sheer physical insult of it, blurred the plaster.
He hit me again. A different part of my face this time. The world tilted.
"No one—" Crack. "—forced you—" Crack. "—to do anything!"
My vision splintered into fragments of light and shadow. The copper taste of blood bloomed hot and thick in my mouth, a familiar, almost comforting flavor.
"You were the desperate one!" Another blow, this one to my temple. A lightning bolt of white pain. "You crawled to me because you're a parasite who can't exist without a host!"
I stumbled backward, my body no longer my own to command. My hip connected with the sharp edge of the table. A sick, dense crunch echoed through my bones, the vibration traveling straight to my core.
To the thing inside me.
