LOGINAMARA POVMy lungs burned as I coughed violently, salt and water spilling from my mouth. My body felt heavy, useless, like it didn’t belong to me anymore.The sound came first.Waves.Slow. Steady. Crashing against something solid.Cold air kissed my skin, raising goosebumps along my arms as I groaned softly. Sand scraped against my palms when I tried to push myself up.“Where… am I?” I moaned, my voice hoarse.Then it hit me.Gunshots.Blood.The fall.“Zed!” I gasped, panic ripping through me as I forced myself upright. My chest heaved as I spun around wildly.I was on land.An island.Trees swayed gently not too far away. No buildings. No boats. Just sand, water, and silence.“Zed?” I called again, my voice shaking.My clothes clung to me, soaked and heavy. I wrapped my arms around myself as I staggered forward, eyes scanning desperately.Please be alive.Please.Then I saw him.A dark shape a few steps away.My heart leapt into my throat.“Zed!” I cried, breaking into a run despit
AMARA POVBoots thundered across the deck.The calm shattered in an instant.Men poured in from every direction like a flood, dark figures, raised weapons, cold metal glinting under the flashing red lights. Guns clicked into position, barrels aimed straight at us.I froze.My fingers tightened around his hand without thinking. My body shook so badly my teeth rattled, breath coming out in short, painful gasps.Then he stepped forward.Roberto.He emerged slowly, almost lazily, dragging a man by the collar. A gun was pressed to the side of the man’s head. The victim’s hands trembled, mouth opening as if to beg,Bang.The sound ripped through the air.The body dropped like dead weight, hitting the deck with a sickening thud. Blood spread beneath his head, dark and fast.My stomach flipped.I squeezed my eyes shut, a sharp sound tearing from my throat as my breath hitched painfully. My knees almost buckled.Beside me, I felt it.The shift.The killer’s body went rigid. His grip tightened,
AMARA POV“Zed?”The name slipped out of me like a prayer.My voice sounded weak, unfamiliar even to my own ears. I blinked hard, my vision swimming, and through the blur I saw a tall back retreating, broad shoulders, steady steps, walking away like he’d never been there at all.I sucked in a breath.I must be dreaming.My head throbbed as I groaned and pressed my fingers to my temple. When my eyes finally focused, I realized I wasn’t in that cold, cubic room anymore.This room was different.Simple. Clean. Too calm.I pushed myself upright slowly, my body protesting, and then it all came rushing back at once, Roberto’s voice, the masked man, the boat, the rail….Killer.My chest seized.“I was sold,” I whispered hoarsely.Panic slammed into me, sharp and sudden. I scrambled off the bed without thinking, my feet hitting the floor.“My dress”I froze.I wasn’t wearing it.Instead, I had on an oversized shirt and socks. The fabric clung loosely to my skin, warm, and then the scent hit m
PROFESSOR BLACK (ZED) POVThe moment I saw her jump over the rail, something inside me tore apart.It felt like a piece of my soul ripped free, leaving my chest hollow and burning. I didn’t even realize I was screaming until my throat started to ache.“Mara!”The name tore out of me raw, broken.I didn’t think. I didn’t hesitate.Before Rugar could even take a step, I leapt.The sea swallowed me whole, cold and violent, but the fire in my chest burned hotter than the water around me. The current yanked at my mask, ripping it free, but I didn’t care.Nothing mattered.I squinted through the water, my vision blurring,Then I saw her.She was sinking.Her body limp. Her eyes closed.“No… no, no, no—”I swam harder, faster, muscles screaming in protest. I reached her just in time, wrapping my arm tightly around her waist and kicking upward with everything I had left.The surface broke.Air burned my lungs.Rugar was already there. He hauled her from my grip as I pulled myself onto the boa
AMARA POV I don’t know how many hours passed.Time felt useless in this place, thick, slow, suffocating. My body ached like it had been beaten and stitched back together poorly. A female doctor had come in earlier, her movements quick and detached, like she didn’t want to stay longer than necessary. She cleaned my bruises without meeting my eyes. No comfort. No reassurance. Just sterile hands and silence.After she left, the room became a grave.The only other person who came in was a maid with a tray of breakfast. She placed it down without a word, her hands trembling slightly. She didn’t look at me either. It was like everyone here was afraid…afraid of the walls, afraid of the air, afraid of me being seen talking to.That scared me more than anything.I had barely touched the food when the door snapped open violently.I jolted violently, my heart slamming against my ribs.A man walked in.He was tall and intimidating, his presence alone making the room feel smaller. A deep scar ran
NINA'S POVIt’s been hell for days.The house has been oddly quiet… too quiet. Not after what happened. Mum and Dad have been avoiding me like I’m some ticking bomb, probably scared I’ll ask about Amara.I won’t.Not yet.I picked up my phone, scrolling lazily. Videos flooded my screen, memes of the sassy girls, almost naked, faces blurred, bodies exposed for the whole school to laugh at.I chuckled.Good.Those bitches deserved it.They dared turn their backs on me.“Fools,” I muttered, flinging the phone aside.Boring. Everything is boring.I groaned, standing up and slipping into my flip-flops. That was it. I was done waiting.I don’t care, I’m going to talk to them.I walked downstairs and found them seated on the couch, stiff, tense. Mum stood up immediately when she saw me.“Don’t think of it, Mum,” I said calmly. “We have to talk about it eventually.”She hesitated, then sighed and sat back down.Their eyes refused to meet mine. That only annoyed me.I inhaled slowly. “Okay… I’







