Chapter 3

Anna was in control, leading Caleb away from the main group after the Chimera meeting.

The meeting itself had been simple.

Chimera wanted to run preliminary tests before the "integration."

They needed a specific neural scan.

Anna smiled and agreed to everything.

Now, alone with Caleb, her sweet demeanor shifted.

I felt a cold dread from my inner room.

She was looking at Caleb, but I knew her thoughts were for me, the silent observer.

He' s mine, Sarah, Anna' s voice echoed in the shared consciousness, a cruel, triumphant whisper.

You never knew how to keep him. Too harsh. Too broken.

I' ll show you how it' s done. I' ll make him forget you ever existed.

Her malice was a chilling thing, so different from the gentle face she showed the world.

She' d done this before, subtle cruelties aimed only at me.

I remembered a time, months ago.

Caleb had been distant. I' d asked him about it.

He' d said Anna was just feeling insecure, needing a friend.

He' d sworn nothing was happening.

"She' s just fragile, Sarah. She looks up to you, you know. She wouldn' t do anything to hurt you."

Liar. Or a fool. Maybe both.

Anna' s thoughts now confirmed it.

He believed every word I said, Sarah. He always does. Men are so easy to lead when you play the victim.

The memory was a fresh stab of pain, reinforcing the depth of his betrayal, his willing blindness.

Anna leaned against Caleb, her body language soft, inviting.

"Caleb," she whispered, her voice laced with a manufactured fear. "I' m so scared. Those Chimera people... and the procedure... What if something goes wrong?"

She looked up at him, her eyes glistening with unshed tears.

"Can I... can I just stay with you tonight? I don' t want to be alone."

It was a calculated move, leveraging his protective instincts.

He hesitated. I saw it in the slight frown, the way his jaw tightened.

A flicker of... something. Loyalty? Guilt?

Not enough.

"Anna..." he began, a note of uncertainty in his voice.

He tried to maintain a boundary, I' ll give him that. For a moment.

"It' s late, Anna. And you need your rest for tomorrow' s scan."

His resistance was a flimsy shield against her practiced manipulation.

"Please, Caleb?" she pressed, her voice breaking. "Just until I fall asleep. I feel safer with you."

She pressed herself closer, her hand finding his.

He looked down at their joined hands.

His resolve crumbled. I watched it happen.

A sigh. A reluctant nod.

"Okay, Anna. Just for a little while."

He was so easily swayed. So quick to choose her comfort over... well, over everything.

The pain inside me was a constant throb.

It wasn' t a fresh wound anymore.

It was old, festering, a deep infection that never healed.

Every betrayal, every moment of neglect, was like scraping away at rotten flesh, exposing raw nerves.

The stench of it, the foulness of their choices, filled my inner world.

Anna' s deliberate cruelty tonight, Caleb' s weakness... it was almost too much to bear.

I wanted to scream, to rage, to claw my way out of this mental prison and shake them until they saw the truth.

But I was just an echo. Powerless.

I couldn' t watch anymore.

The thought of witnessing what Anna planned, what Caleb would allow... it was unbearable.

I had to protect myself, what little was left of me.

I focused all my will, all my remaining strength.

I pictured my inner room, the one window looking out onto Anna' s world.

Slowly, deliberately, I pulled a thick, dark curtain across that window.

Then another. And another.

Blocking out the sight, the sound, the feeling of Anna' s life.

Seeking oblivion.

If I couldn' t escape my prison, I could at least refuse to watch my own destruction.

I forced my awareness to go dark.