Chapter 175

DAHLIA

Time stops meaning anything in the dark.

Minutes stretch into hours. Hours collapse into a single, endless moment of breathing and fear and waiting for something—anything—to happen.

At first, I scream.

My throat burns raw with it. My palms ache from pounding on the walls until my knuckles swell and sting. I beg. I threaten. I pray to a God I’m not sure is listening anymore.

Then my voice dies.

Silence becomes heavier than the darkness itself. It presses into my ears, my chest, my thoughts. I curl into myself on the cold concrete floor, knees pulled tight, arms locked around them like I can hold myself together if I just don’t let go.

My mother’s face keeps flashing behind my eyelids.

Her smile. Her tired eyes. The way her hands shake sometimes when she thinks I’m not looking.

Seizures. Surgery. Time is running out.

Alex knew exactly where to cut me.

I try to think of Sebastian. His voice. His steady presence. T