Chapter 83

CASSANDRA'S POV~

I should’ve been ready.

I thought I was.

But nothing… absolutely nothing—could’ve prepared me for what I saw when I cracked open that lab door.

The stench hit me first. Not bleach. Not sterile air. Something darker. Rotting. Old. It clawed down my throat, made my stomach twist. I didn’t step inside. I didn’t have to.

The shadows moved even in the artificial light.

Stacy.

She was strapped to something that looked like it belonged in a prison more than a hospital. IVs lined her tiny arms. Her chest barely rose. She looked so pale… so small. Her hair matted to her forehead. Her mouth parted like she was mid-scream, but no sound came.

And that was when it hit me.

The silence. Not peaceful. Not calm.

Empty. Wrong. It felt dead.

Something terrible was happening in that room. And I was standing right outside it like an idiot with shaking fingers and a stolen key.

I couldn’t move.

I felt my knees go soft, like someone had taken the bones out of me. My breath got caught some