I wait anxiously for Allister’s return to the observation room, already worried about his intentions. Soon, he walks in, his face unreadable.“Bloom, let’s go,” he calls me, his voice leaving no room for argumentI nod, guessing that he intends for me to be a part of Rhea’s punishment, but nothing prepared me for the sort of brutality he was going to subject Rhea to.As we prepare to leave, he retrieves a heavy, long coat from a cabinet in the room. “It’s cold outside, put this on.” He says, draping the coat over me.The coat is oversized, nearly dragging on the ground, but it carries his familiar, comforting scent. A subtle reassurance that, despite what I just witnessed, he cares for me and only me.Allister takes my hand and leads me outside, where a thick blanket of snow is falling.Then I see it…A steel structure, standing at the far end of the “The Skull” grounds. It looks like a reinforced post anchored into the frozen earth. Long chains hang from it, glinting under the dim
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