CHAPTER 12:
Caught in the Silence
The corridors felt longer today
Or maybe I was just tired.
My body was here but my mind had gone far away from me. Somewhere softer than this place. Somewhere friendly. Somewhere I wasn't working myself to exhaustion for people who treated me like I was nothing.
A tray of documents pressed against my arms as I walked carefully through the Alpha Wing.
Every step echoed.
Every sound felt too loud.
And those words from Mira still rang in my head
“Outsider” .
That was all I was here.
Not a servant.
Not a person.
Just something temporary they hadn’t decided what to do with yet.
I pressed the files close to my chest and kept walking.
Then it started again.
That familiar sickness.
It came slowly
Then sharper.
I stopped beside the wall quick
