~ Cassie ~
My scream ripped through the old bunker, slicing through the stale air like a blade.
The underground room felt like a hollow, airless tomb. It was a forgotten vault that smelled of damp concrete, rusted metal, and something far more visceral. It reeked of rot, of salt, and of a long-lingering suffering.
"I was so foolish… Why did they do this to me? What did I ever do to deserve this?!"
My voice cracked and dissolved into the darkness pressing in from every side. The shadows seemed alive, crawling along the cracked walls and swallowing what little strength I had left.
I dropped to my knees on the freezing floor, right next to the body.
The corpse was battered beyond anything I could have imagined. White bone poked through torn, purpled flesh. Arms and legs were bent at impossible angles; no living person could survive such ruin. Shredded, soaked clothes clung to the shape like they were trying to hold the pieces of a broken doll together.
One look was enough to know she'd died in agony. Still, I stared. I couldn't look away because I recognized her. I knew the sharp curve of the jawline under the bruises. I saw the small, crescent-shaped birthmark on her collarbone, half-hidden by dried blood. I recognized the long black hair, matted now with dirt and filth.
I was looking at myself.
My face was ruined. My bones were snapped. My own blood was smeared across the concrete floor in a dark, mocking halo.
My breath hitched. My hand shook as I reached out, barely brushing the corpse's icy cheek before yanking away as if I'd touched fire.
Memories hit me with a sharp, jagged force. Hands yanking my hair. Cold laughter. The crack of a whip. Steel biting into skin. Every second of torture and betrayal carved itself back into my mind.
"Why me?" I whispered, but the darkness gave no answer.
Before the nightmare began, my life had been ordinary. It wasn't perfect, but it was mine. It was quiet, predictable, and manageable. I was the girl who worked too hard, picking up the slack my coworkers left behind because I didn't know how to set a boundary. I swallowed insults like bitter pills and took on impossible workloads, truly believing that if I just kept my head down, the world would eventually be kind to me.
"It will get better," I had always told myself. "It has to."
My one sanctuary was Anthony.
He had a shy smile and a repertoire of awkward jokes. He was the man who folded origami flowers because I was allergic to pollen. He brought chocolates on difficult days and held me when exhaustion stole my strength. I thought he was my safe place. I never imagined he would be the one to deliver me into the hands of a monster.
The night everything changed, the sky hung low and heavy, swollen with the promise of rain. I stepped out of the office building, grateful to leave earlier than usual. My supervisor had barely looked up from her desk.
"Fine, go," she'd said. "But those reports must be finished first thing tomorrow morning. No excuses"
"I'll be here at dawn," I promised.
I had it all planned to be there early tomorrow to finish them before anyone else arrived. That night, I just wanted something simple: dinner with Anthony, a movie, and maybe the proposal I'd been waiting for.
Thunder rumbled as I walked home, but my good mood held. I hummed softly, imagining Anthony's surprised laughter when I walked through the door early.
"Anthony?" I called out as I unlocked the apartment.
I expected love. I found a wreckage.
Anthony was on the couch with Seline, a bar girl I recognized instantly. She was the type who always lingered too close, her hands wandering where they shouldn't. She scrambled away, adjusting her dress, but Anthony didn't look guilty. He looked irritated.
"Anthony, what is this?" My voice was barely steady.
Seline sat up, smoothing her dress with a smirk that felt like a physical slap. "He's bored, honey. Some people want a fire, not a wet blanket."
I stepped forward, my chest tightening until I couldn't breathe. The air in our living room, usually smelling of vanilla and coffee, felt thick and toxic. "Get out. Both of you, get out!"
I never finished the sentence. Something hard and cold slammed into the back of my head. The room spun violently as red flooded my vision. I collapsed before I could even scream, never even seeing who had been standing behind me.
The last thing I saw was Anthony's pale, panicked face dissolving into the dark.
~ Anthony ~
I never meant for it to happen that way.
It started with her shouting. Cassandra's voice filled the apartment, sharp and relentless, bouncing off the walls. She stood in the doorway with her eyes blazing, words tumbling over one another as if volume alone could undo what she had just walked in on.
The guilt was there, buried deep, but it was quickly overshadowed by a defensive, ugly anger. Why did she have to be early? Why couldn't she just follow the schedule for once in her predictable life?
"You didn't tell me you were coming back early," I snapped. My irritation flared before I could stop it. "You were supposed to be gone until tonight."
She didn't reply. She didn't have to.
The look of pure, unadulterated heartbreak on her face was enough to make me want to look away.