Masuk**Harrison POV**âSorry.âHer voice is so quiet I almost miss it.I look at her, frowning slightly. Sheâs curled into herself on the bed, arms wrapped tightly around her body like sheâs trying to hide from the entire world. Her eyes flick up to me for a second, confused and vulnerable, before dropping again.Something about that look twists uncomfortably in my chest.I shouldnât be here like this.I swallow slowly, forcing my gaze away from her for a moment. My jaw tightens as I drag a breath through my nose.The medicine is already working.I can feel it.A slow heat starts spreading through my body, subtle at first but impossible to ignore once I notice it. My muscles feel tighter, restless under my skin, like something inside me has been switched on.Damn it.Right on time.Every three months.The same damn cycle.My fingers curl slightly at my sides as I try to steady myself. I knew this would happen the moment I checked my watch. Thatâs why I took the pill. Itâs supposed to keep
Alina POVEverything feels wrong.Like the world has been wrapped in thick fog and Iâm trapped somewhere inside it. My thoughts wonât stay still long enough to make sense of them. They slip away the moment I try to grab them.My body doesnât feel like mine anymore.Itâs trembling, stiff, restless all at once. I canât understand whatâs happening to me. Every small sound feels too loud. The scrape of a chair, someone shifting their weight, even the quiet hum of the roomâit all makes my heart slam harder against my ribs.I keep waiting for something bad to happen.Like danger is already here⌠just hiding in the corners.My breathing comes out uneven, shaky. I pull my arms around myself and squeeze as tight as I can, like Iâm trying to hold my own body together before it falls apart. The pressure helps a little. Not much, but enough to keep me from completely losing control.The only clothes on my body was my panty that was cling to my skin. Damp. Cold.I hate the feeling.âAlina⌠relax.â
Harrison Pov The hotel room was silent, the hum of the air conditioner filling the emptiness. Alina lay on the bed, completely still, as if she had vanished from the world. Hours had passed. Hours of nothing but waiting. I sat beside her, my phone trembling in my hand as I scrolled through her preliminary report. Each word was a blow. Each line made my chest tighten. The substance in her blood didnât exist. No name, no classification, no logic. Not medicine. Not anything meant to heal. It was experimentation. Pure, deliberate manipulation. She had been drugged. No one could tell with what. Some of the terms triggered memories that werenât mineâfragments, flashes of knowledge I couldnât fully grasp. I searched online, desperate, but it was useless. I deal in law. Evidence, facts, argument. Science like this⌠it was a foreign language, and it made me feel helpless. Past midnight. Dr. Marshall. He would be asleep, probably, tucked away in his quiet house. My thumb hovered over t
We reached the hotel. I didnât even wait for Arc to stop the carâI jumped out, sprinting toward the reception desk.âHow may I help you, sir?â the lady behind the counter asked, her voice calm and professional.âIâm Harrison Hayes,â I said, my breathing coming fast, heart pounding in my chest.âYes, Mr. Hayes,â she replied quickly, signaling to another staff member. âThe security room is this way.ââWhereâs the school prom party happening?â I asked, eyes darting around the lobby.âItâs in the main hall,â the security guard answered. âGo straight, then take a left.â He paused, studying my expression. âYou want to check the cameras to find her, donât you?ââArc will go with you,â I said, glancing back just as Arc caught up, slightly out of breath.âStay connected with me on call,â I told him, already turning toward the hallway. My pulse hammered in my ears as I rushed toward the hall, praying she was safeâsomewhere inside, surrounded by her friends.The strong smell of alcohol and smoke
Harrison POVI couldnât breathe in that room.The air felt thick, like it was pressing down on my chest, squeezing out whatever calm I had left. So I stepped out onto the balcony, lit a cigarette with shaking fingers, and sat down hard on the cold concrete. The night air was supposed to clear my head. It didnât.Iâd been out there for hoursâsince midnight, maybe earlier. Time didnât move right anymore.Her cry still echoed in my head.That hollow, breaking soundâthe kind that comes from something being ripped open insideâsliced through the night and into my skull. And her eyes⌠Jesus. That look she gave me. Hurt. Accusing. Daring me to fix it when I didnât even know how.I wanted to go back inside. Sit beside her. Say anything that might slow the storm Iâd helped unleash.But I couldnât move.I was drowning too.Her grief was everywhere. In the silence between us. In the creak of the floorboards. In my lungs with every breath I dragged in like smoke and let out like regret. And no mat
Alinaâs POV Late night. Cold air. A silence that felt too heavy to breathe.I lay still, wrapped in a thin sheet, my body aching in places I didnât want to think about. Everything felt slowâlike my soul was moving half a step behind my body. I wasnât crying anymore, just staring blankly at the ceiling, not knowing what to feel. Not knowing what to believe something inside me felt hollow, like something had been taken that I would never take back. And deep down, I knew what it was. I didn't want to say the wordânot even in my head. But it echoed there anywhere. I was raped. It didn't matter that I froze. That I couldn't speak. That I didn't fight. He still did it, and now I had to still live in this body that didn't feel like mine anymore.I hated myselfâfor being week, for not stopping it, for surviving.I scratched at my skin softly, over the same spot again and again. Not to hurt. Just to feel something that wasn't this. Just to stay grounded. But even that felt wrong.Tears had sto







