Arabella Everhart once believed her world was safe, full of music, warmth, and her mother's love. But beneath that fragile peace lies her father's cruelty. When her mother's spirit is slowly crushed under his violence and she dies by suicide, Arabella's childhood shatters. Consumed by grief and trapped with the man who destroyed her family, Arabella goes back to boarding school. There, she clings to her memories of the past and the lingering guilt that she couldn't save her mother. Her childhood friend Blake, once her closest confidant, grows distant and cold, leaving her feeling even more isolated. At school, Arabella meets Ruby, a fiery and open-hearted girl who becomes her first real source of comfort. Their friendship, tender, and grounding helps Arabella begin to confront the fear and pain she's spent years burying. Yet healing isn't linear. She battles insomnia, disordered eating and the urge to vanish completely. As Arabella rebuilds herself piece by piece, she faces the truth about her father's abuse and the weight of the trauma she carries. When she returns home for the holidays, she's forced to confront him and the person she has become in his absence. In the end, Arabella learns that survival isn't about forgetting the past but about choosing to keep living in spite of it. Surrounded by a found family of people who love her, Ruby, Xavier, Celeste and even Blake, she finally begins to believe she can be more than what was done to her. What We Became in the Dark is a story about grief, resilience and the quiet courage it takes to love again after surviving the worst parts of yourself.