HUNDRED SEVEN

SPECIAL CHAPTER NINE: NEAL GALDINA

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Special chapters serve to shed light on the perspectives of minor characters, providing insight into their roles in the unfolding narrative.

I was fading fast. The pain ripped through my body with every strained breath. Dimitri and Camille's voices rang out, desperate for me to hang on, to stay awake. But the darkness closed in, blurring their panicked faces.

Was this it? Was I about to find out what the big mystery was all about? I'd always figured myself for hell after what my ancestors did - that whole thing with killing off the Mad God's lover. Tough break, but what could you do?

My eyelids grew heavy. Too heavy to keep open any longer. I let them slide shut as the blackness fully took over.

Then - nothing. Just...nothing. No pain, no fear, no thoughts even. A pure blank void.

How long did that nothing last? Impossible to say. But then, just as quickly, my eyes snapped back open.

I squinted against a blinding white light that se