The Return of Ellie Black

by Emiko Jean

he repeated. I’ll help. She scoffed. Does it look like I need help? Nope. But those are usually the people who need the most help. She did not want to like him. You got some weird kind of savior syndrome? Only when it comes to pretty girls. He grinned then,

The best prisons are the ones created in our own minds.

That the truth is these people are not strangers. They are the men who you sleep with, the men you work with, the men you raise. I wish this wasn’t what it means to be female—it is not a matter of if something bad will happen, but when.

Here’s what I learned about the human body: It is hardwired to live. No matter how much you will your heart to cease its gentle beating, it will endure.

when someone becomes… overwhelmed, a person may disassociate. It’s a survival response. And it can manifest in many ways—amnesia, identity confusion or alteration, depersonalization…”

She is still the person he fell in love with. The only person, the only girl in the world, capable of destroying him.

A sob tears from Ellie’s throat, the grief too much to hold on to. The pressure eases. “I’m scared,” she repeats. “Me too,” he admits. “This is uncharted territory. But I’ll hang on if you do.”