This isn't a fairy tale. I'll save you the trouble by telling you that now.

This is the tale of a girl who spent her life bouncing around foster homes, who had her innocence stolen in the darkness before she knew it was something that could be lost.

Her demons followed her everywhere, after that night. They chased her to the medical school she dropped out of, to the strip club she sold herself in, and finally caught her in a river of sin where they tried to drown her. My name is Bex and this is my story.

I'm paddling, barely keeping my head above water. And even though I'm submerged, I'll never be clean. The layer of dirt that has clung to me since birth is a tattoo I'll wear for life.

He can't see it, though. Even when I'm torn and tattered, and left in pieces, he wades into the filth to try to put those pieces back together. He doesn't seem to understand there's nothing left to repair.
To love.
Just sullied fragments of a damned soul.

He's willing to damn himself in order to exact revenge on those who sent me to the pit. Problem is, my name is at the top of that list, since I not only damned my own soul, but his too.

*Contains dark subject matter and potential triggers **Can be read as a standalone