It felt like all I’d been doing for a while was passing out and waking up. When I came to this time I thought about pretending to still be unconscious because unlike last time, I actually remembered what happened before I passed out. I tried to control my breathing and pretend to still be unconscious. I mean, he couldn’t hurt me if I was asleep, could he?

“I know you’re awake Angel. And no, your being asleep won’t stop me from hurting you” Xavier said. I thought about simply ignoring him and pretending but the choice was taken out of my hands when he smacked me. I winced and my...