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42 – Darkness Within
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2024-11-17 20:25:34*Mago’s POV*
The cold water hit my skin, grounding me as I tried to wash her image from my mind. But the memory of her—her eyes filled with pain and longing—stayed, twisting inside me. I hated that she still made me feel... anything.
But love? No. Whatever I’d once felt was buried too deeply beneath years of bitterness and scars that ran too deep for her to understand. The darkness inside me was beyond anything her love could fix. I couldn’t forgive—not her, not her family. The damage ran too deep.
*Flashback*
“Mago, you can come out now,” Nana’s voice coaxed gently, pulling me from the cabinet where I’d hidden, trembling.
“Nana,” I whispered, “Dad’s drunk again…”
Her hand found mine in the darkness. “I know, sweetheart. But you can’t stay in here forever. Come on.”
I held back, clinging
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