Kill Me

Prologue

Quinn - Present Day

Nothing in life will ever prepare you for the betrayal of a family member, even more so, a betrayal you can’t even remember.

You can remember the scent of their cologne.

The smoke on their fingertips. The oil on their clothes.

The cackle of laughter. It’s familiar—comforting to a point—but you can never quite picture their face.

And it’s a face you would never have considered picturing.

Because why would you ever believe someone you love with every cell in your body could ever do to you what’s been done?

You’re taught that family is everything.

You live for family; you die for family.

No excuses, no loopholes. So, why was it that, after years of grief, mental anguish, and drug therapy, my family chose to side with him?

They chose to believe him. They threw me away like the chip paper from last night’s takeaway without a second thought.

No glances behind as the car drove away.

No calls or texts afterwards to make sure I was safe.

They might as well have left me in a ditch for the wildlife to take care of.

What they didn’t realise, though, was that discarding me like a used toy, a forgotten object, did nothing but stoke the fire in my soul.

Without those actions, I would have been resigned to my memory loss, convinced a stranger had hurt me, devoid of emotion, and wishing death upon myself.

But because of them, a determination began leaking into my veins, drop by excruciating drop. Trauma by devastating fucking trauma.

After all, there's nothing better than the smell of stale sweat and dried blood when it's coming from someone who's fought for their life, and this is a fight that they stand no chance of winning.

And my family rejecting me taught me that.