The Devil's Nurse

The Beginning

Reina’s POVThe nightmare always began the same way. The sound of footsteps in the hallway. The creak of a door opening. A shadow stretching across the floor, swallowing me whole. I curled into myself, pressing my little fingers against my ears, trying to block out the hushed voices outside my bedroom. But nothing could stop the sickly sweetness of alcohol and cologne from seeping under the door, wrapping around my throat like a noose. “Be a good girl, Reina.” The words slithered into my mind, the same way they had that night. The sheets tangled around my legs, my body frozen as the dark figure loomed over me, a hand brushing over my cheek. Then the pressure. The searing pain. The muffled scream. I jerked awake with a sharp gasp, my chest rising and falling in panicked, shallow breaths. Sweat dampened my forehead, my nightshirt clinging to my skin. I pressed the heel of my palms against my eyes, willing the images away. It wasn’t real. Not anymore. But my body st...