Chapter 161. She Has Company

For the next several days, I stayed cocooned in my dimly lit chamber, refusing to leave the narrow confines of my bed. I lay there almost motionless, surrendering myself to the stillness of my own thoughts. Much of my time was spent sleeping, as though I could replenish my dwindling strength through rest alone. The little energy I possessed dwindled by the hour, and I clung desperately to every moment of unconsciousness, hoping it would shield me from the reality of my hunger.

When I was awake, I would prop myself up on an elbow and stare at my reflection in the window’s grimy glass. It was the only way I could confirm I was still alive. My eyes, sunken and hollow, blinked back at me, and I saw the dark patches of deprivation that had settled into the hollows of my cheeks. My skin had turned a sickly pale, and my bones felt brittle beneath the thin fabric of my clothes. A dull, persistent ache pulsed through my skull, as if some strange drum were beating inside my head. Yet, m