Chapter 6

Darkness. It was heavy, wet, and absolute.

The weight of the earth pressed down on my chest, squeezing the last pockets of air from my bruised lungs. I couldn't move. I couldn't scream. The soil was cold against my skin, packing tight into my ears, my nose, my open, silent mouth. I could feel the worms wriggling through the mud next to my cheek, indifferent to the dying girl beside them.

My heart stuttered. Once. Twice.

Then, silence.

I drifted in that void, floating between the memory of pain and the promise of nothingness. I saw Stormi’s face. I saw…