Chapter 68. New Gift

Alison’s POV

The first thing I noticed was the noise.

It wasn’t the hum of machinery or the muted sounds of nature outside my window... it was voices. A cacophony of them. They overlapped and twisted together like a symphony gone wrong. Some were angry, others were mournful, and a few were so quiet they seemed to whisper secrets just out of reach.

The more I tried to tune them out, the louder they grew, crashing against each other in a storm of unintelligible words and emotions.

My body felt heavy as I stirred. I wasn’t fully awake yet, but the voices… they wouldn’t let me slip back into the comforting darkness.

“Why did this happen to her?”

“I’ll kill anyone who touches her.”

“She’ll be fine… won’t she?”

Who did these voices belong to? Why did they sound so close yet so far? My heart raced as panic gripped me. My eyelids fluttered, and I forced them open, the brightness of the room blinding me momentarily.

I blinked rapid