CHAPTER ELEVEN.
The air is thick with the stench of blood. The acrid scent clings to my skin and to the very air I breathe. The crowd’s roars echo in my ears, a haunting reminder of Carter and his family's execution.
I’m still standing, my body held upright by the guards at my sides, though I barely notice them anymore. My eyes are fixed on the lifeless head of Carter Katz, then slowly I take it up to where his body is now arranged near the rest of his headless family. Blood pools beneath the piles of bodies, a dark stain spreading across the wooden platform. Eliana remains standing on the platform, head bowed to the floor as her body quakes with sobs. I can still hear the roars of the crowd, but it’s all distant… hollow, like I’m underwater. I don’t want to hear it. I don’t want to see
