Tears for Strangers

The icy weight of the compress pressed against Sloane’s palm, stark and grounding against the frantic drumming of her heart. For two unrelenting years at Mt. Vesper Reform Academy, she had suffered near-fatal beatings that left her coughing up blood on concrete floors. She had survived starvation that hollowed out her cheeks and freezing nights that turned her lips blue. Through all of that agoniz