I woke with a start, a cold, damp sensation crawling up my spine as the darkness clung to the edges of my mind. My head throbbed, each pulse a sharp reminder that I wasn't where I should be.
I blinked, trying to clear the fog, but my vision was blurry. The air around me was thick, heavy with the scent of antiseptic and something else—something metallic.
I tried to move, but my body felt like lead. My muscles screamed in protest, aching from the cold, hard surface beneath me. I turned my head, and there he was.
Jason.
Unconscious beside me, his face contorted in pain, his body tense. I reached out, my hand shaking as I touched his arm. The warmth of his skin didn't bring me comfort; it only made the overwhelming sense of dread grow. Where were we? How had we ended up here?
A cold, sickening realization began to crawl into my thoughts—memories of Job, his voice, the cryptic warnings he'd given me. My mother. My mother's trust in him.
The walls seemed to close in, the panic rising like a storm in my chest.
Suddenly, the door creaked open.
I froze, my heart pounding in my ears. A masked figure stepped into the room, his face obscured, but I could sense their presence, cold and calculating. The figure moved toward me with unsettling calm, and my body instinctively tried to back away.
"Don't try to move," the masked doctor said, his voice low and neutral. He approached with a medical kit in hand, and I could hear the faint rustle of tools inside.
I wanted to scream. To fight. But my body betrayed me, my muscles stiff and uncooperative.
The doctor kneeled beside me, his eyes hidden behind the mask, his hands moving with precision as he began to tend to my wound. The sterile smell of the antiseptic filled the air, but it did nothing to dull the unease settling in my chest.
When he finished, he sat back on his heels, watching me with an unnerving calm.
"You mother knew I'd come back for you," the doctor said, his voice so casual it sent a chill running through my veins.
I barely had time to process the words before the door slammed shut behind them, leaving me in the oppressive silence of the room.