Chapter 1: Back from the Dead

My final memory from my past life was pure agony: the searing burn of sulfuric acid eating away at my eyes, the sickening stench of melting flesh filling my nose as pain devoured me whole. Through the haze, I caught a glimpse of Rachel cowering behind my brother. In a surge of desperation, I grabbed a cake knife from the dessert table and lunged at her, driving it into her chest with everything I had left.

"Let's go to hell together!"

Suddenly, I was somewhere else. My vision snapped into focus on fluorescent lights buzzing overhead. The familiar sting of cheap disinfectant, the sticky heat of adolescence clinging to the air, slammed into me harder than any memory. Rachel stood nearby, somehow younger, her school uniform carefully rumpled to look pitiful. She turned on the faucet, pouring water over her own head in a slow, dramatic trickle.

She flashed me that innocent, practiced smile: "Go ahead, princess—let’s see who everyone sides with this time."

The realization hit like a gut punch—this was it. The day my life started to unravel, the first accusation of bullying that ruined everything.

Frozen, I stared as Rachel's grin widened, showing just a little too much tooth. "Have you figured out how you'll apologize to me, princess?—Ah!"

Something in me broke. My fingers tangled in her hair before I even realized what I was doing, fury surging so hot my vision blurred. I yanked her toward the stall, my heart pounding like a drumline at halftime.

"Trying to set me up with your little water show? Let me show you what real bullying looks like."

Rachel shrieked, her arms pinwheeling like she was drowning in the deep end at summer camp, nails slashing at the air. But she couldn’t break free, only managed muffled, garbled protests as I shoved her face into the toilet.

"Your mouth is filthy—make sure you clean it before you go tattling!"

I threw my head back and laughed, the sound ricocheting off the tiled walls. Was I hallucinating? Time-traveling? I didn’t care. All I knew was, for the first time in years, it felt damn good to finally fight back.