Chapter 7. Waking Up in White

Celeste’s POV

When I finally stirred, I found myself lying on a narrow bed in a room I’d never seen before—its walls were painted stark white, and the only light came through a small, high window. As I pushed myself up, the first thought that flooded my mind was a desperate question: Am I even still alive?

For a moment, I wondered if I’d slipped into some strange afterlife where the rules of the world no longer applied. Then I crept close to the window, peered down, and saw solid earth and green treetops below. I was very much alive, and very much still on this plane of existence.

Just then, memories of my last conscious moments returned in a rush. Leon’s parting words echoed inside my head, twisting my stomach with both fury and relief. Rejecting him had felt like a colossal risk, but now I knew it had been worth every second of terror. I was free of him at last.

Surprisingly, there was no ache in my body—no broken bones, no deep cuts—nothing to show