Shattered Innocence Book Novels & Stories

The shattered fragments seemed to mock me, their jagged edges gleaming in the dim light, as I lay there, lost in a sea of despair, my world reduced to a broken, bloody mess. I wasn’t sure what hurt worse, the urn shards protruding from my chest… or my shattered heart.

AISHA The cold mud caked under my fingernails didn’t matter anymore. The rain pouring down on my shivering shoulders didn't matter either. Nothing mattered. Just an hour ago, I had crossed the pack border, thinking of nothing but survival. But then, reality crashed into me like a physical blow. Leo. Toby. My sweet, innocent little brothers. What was the point of running to save my own skin if I left them behind to face Mabel’s wrath? Mabel was a monster, and she knew they were my weakness.

The crowd began to murmur, a low, chaotic sound that filled the room. "She speaks of children and joy," I said, looking back at the cameras. "But what she did was ensure my home was shattered. She led me down a road where I was broken. She led me to a place where I was... tempted." I looked at Steve as I said the word. He didn't move, but a slow, dark smile spread across his face. "So yes, she survived," I finished. "But the truth is finally breathing, too."

"So your last name is Keane, huh? Get ready to spend some time in prison!" Hearing Yuri's provocation, I calmly picked up the most intact fragment from the ground and pointed to the letters carved on its base: Aurelius. "You'd better hold off on calling the police. Maybe look this up online first." Yuri scoffed, still full of bravado. However, the moment Lauren's gaze landed on the porcelain shard, her expression changed dramatically. She suddenly shouted, "Don't call the police yet!" Lauren snatched the shard from my hand, her slender fingers trembling faintly under the sunlight.

And now I am standing in the wreckage of that loyalty, watching her try to rewrite it. She steps forward, her eyes wide, her mouth trembling. “Fiona, you have it all wrong. It’s not what you think~” I laugh. It’s a brittle, hollow sound that feels like glass cracking in my throat. “Why do people always say that? Every damn fucking time. First Edward, now you. You always say it’s not what I think, when it’s exactly what I think. It’s exactly what it looks like. You hurt me. You hurt our friend group. You shattered something that mattered.”

My voice was barely able to form her name. But she looked at me with so much trust, so much surrender, that my chest tightened painfully. I shouldn't have continued, I knew that but I continued. Slowly and carefully, I went in. Her fingers dug into my back, her breath hitching in pain. When the final barrier broke, a thin line of blood stained the sheet beneath us. It was messed up. It was then that it dawned on me that I've taken her innocence away. The one I rejected. This was complete irony.

"What? Do you think I'm making this up to scare you?" The warm light from above cast a slanted shadow on the edge of the table. He stared at me, and for once, didn't rush to deny anything. "You broke up with me…because of this?" I almost laughed. "Does it even matter now? Even if I were healthy, I never would have lasted long enough for you to finally turn around and look at me. I overheard your friends talking. Apparently, I wasn't even someone you'd be willing to settle for. I used to think we'd actually make it to the end."

She whispered inwardly, though no words left her lips: You are not her anymore, she's dead. Yet, even as she told herself this, she felt the faint ache of longing, the ghost of who she used to be tugging at her. A part of her missed that innocence, that warmth, that smile, that admirable character. But innocence had cost her everything. Caring had left her shattered. Trusting had destroyed her. So she had become this. And she would never go back. The moment was just a reminder for herself, to remind herself how she started, how it hurt back then, how she was betrayed by the people she loved the most.

The word formed in my mind with crystalline clarity, sharp-edged and absolute. I wasn't. I was becoming what I swore to become. What I had to become. What justice demanded I become. For her. For Elira. For the girl who had kissed my wrist in her final moments and whispered with her dying breath: "Don't let them smile while I fade." They smiled. They laughed. They celebrated her destruction like it was a holiday. And now— They would weep. They would know what it felt like to watch their own child broken and helpless, would understand the specific agony of seeing innocence defiled for sport.

In the dark, his cruel strength overwhelmed her, his assault brutal and merciless. Time seemed to blur, and the agony that followed shattered her. The pain was blinding, ripping through her body and mind. Her cries faded into the heavy silence of the room, and all that remained was the dull throb of her broken spirit. A tear slid down Nina's cheek, her soul drowning in the darkness surrounding her. She was lost, her innocence stolen, her world irreparably shattered. The weight of the moment pressed down on her until all she could feel was numbness-the ache of loss etched deep into her very being.