The abandoned east wing of Millbrook High feels like stepping into a forgotten world. Dust motes dance in the shafts of afternoon sunlight that filter through grimy windows, and the air carries the musty scent of disuse and old secrets. This section of the school has been closed for renovations for over a year, but the work never began, leaving it as a perfect sanctuary for conversations that can't happen in the normal world.
Ella's footsteps echo hollowly against the cracked linoleum as she follows the two men who've just turned her life upside down—again. Her hands still tremble with the aftermath of what happened in the chemistry classroom, and she can still taste the metallic sweetness of Marcus's blood on her tongue. The memory should disgust her, should make her sick with horror, bu
