There was no ground beneath me. But something held. Just enough to keep me from disappearing.
The dark pressed closer, no longer distant, no longer patient, shifting at the edges of my awareness like it had grown tired of waiting and decided to move.
“You cannot hold it.” The voice did not echo this time. It pressed inside my head, chest and everywhere at once. I did not answer because I was already holding it.
I could feel the point inside me where everything met, where the pressure built and pushed and tried to break through, and I held it there, forcing it shut, forcing everything back, forcing the opening to close.
“You will break.”I won’t.” The words came out quieter than I intended. But they were still true. Because breaking meant losing control.And that… That was the one thing I
