Remembering More Monster

June's POV

The door slammed shut.

I heard it—felt it more than anything—vibrating through my bones like an aftershock. Something cold and distant inside me stirred, like a ripple beneath ice. I wanted to sit up. I wanted to scream. I wanted to ask Justin what he saw—what he thought when he looked at me now.

But my mouth wouldn't work. My tongue sat like a swollen thing in my mouth, foreign, heavy. My limbs were slack, trembling from somewhere deep in the marrow. My eyes darted, unfocused, unable to anchor to anything.

I felt the seatbelt tighten across my chest as the car turned on. The world outside blurred into streaks of shadow and dying light. I curled deeper into the seat, a child again. No. Not a child. Not really. Not anymore.

"She's gone."

That voice again.

Feminine. Familiar.