Chapter 34

The door clamors shut, and Jane grabs me by the throat, her nails cutting into my skin before I can realize my lack of breath. My hands spring to hers, instantly clawing to pry her off, but her grip is like stone. I sputter, panic compounding and crushing my chest.

"Mia!"

Harper's voice sounds from upstairs. "Can you put fries in the oven?" She calls.

The sound of the shower is loud — the bathroom door open — but she isn't visible, she can't see Jane choking me. Tears well in my eyes.

Jane brings her emotionless face an inch from mine. The whites of her eyes start to bruise, the blacks like endless tunnels. "Say okay," she commands quietly.

"Okay!" I call in the short reprieve of her strangle, feeling no control over the matter.

She clips off any cry for help by squeezing my throat again. Harper does not respond, but I hear the bathroom door close and the beating water of her shower lessen. I push against Jane as my adrenaline spikes higher and higher — reaching a peak I've never expe