Survive the Night

by Riley Sager

With someone you know and trust, silence doesn’t matter. With a stranger, it could mean anything.

“I just want you to live a little.” “And I want to go the hell home.”

But her grief, which at the time had felt so heavy she thought she’d be crushed by its weight, had transformed into something easier to bear.

“Women need to do that, you know. Look out for each other. There’s a special place in hell for those who don’t.”

No one tells women that none of it is their fault. That the blame falls squarely on the awful men who do terrible things and the fucked-up society that raises them, molds them, makes excuses for them. People don’t want to admit that there are monsters in their midst, so the monsters continue to roam free and the cycle of violence and blame continues.