[CONTENT WARNING: This chapter contains highly disturbing content, including graphic depictions of violence and themes of cannibalism. Reader discretion is strongly advised.]
Olivia offered no reply. Instead, she bolted toward the bathroom, her movements fueled by a frantic, desperate energy. She scrubbed at her mouth with such violence that her lips began to crack and weep blood. Isabella lunged forward, catching her wrists to still the madness.
"Olivia! You're bleeding... what on earth are you doing?"
For a fleeting, terrifying moment, Olivia's eyes looked as though life itself had been extinguished within them—two hollow voids that struck a primal chord of fear in Isabella's heart. Then, as quickly as it had vanished, the light flickered back.
"Oh," Olivia murmured, her voice thin. "It's nothing. I suppose I just... scrubbed too hard."
"Olivia, look at yourself," Isabella whispered, her own voice trembling. "You've turned as pale as a corpse."
