PROLOGUE
I toss the dishes onto the rack, water splashing across the counter. A few stubborn suds cling to the plates, but I let them be. Usually, my OCD would have me scrubbing them until they’re spotless, but not today. It’s barely nine in the morning, and I’m already drained. My arms feel heavy, my legs weak, and a tightness coils in my chest. Something’s off, but I can’t pin it down. “Stress, maybe? Exhaustion? Or is it something else? Perhaps I need to eat something to make everything feel normal again.”
I sip my smoothie, and bile rises in my throat. A wave of heat creeps across my skin, my breath growing shallow. “Could this be Baby Blues? Or am I dying?” I crack open the window, desperate for fresh air. It’s paradise out there - trees swaying, leaves rustling, and dappled light dancing through the woods. Usually, I’d soak in this view for hours, but not today. Not for days now. “How many? Three days? Four? It’s all blurring together. What the hell is happening to me?”
My mouth is dry. I need something to drink. I force another sip of the smoothie. It churns in my stomach, and my esophagus burns like I swallowed acid. I shove the cup into the fridge and grab a water bottle. Gulping it down, the cold feels like life, but it doesn’t ease the gnawing in my gut.
Then I feel it. Someone is behind me, watching. I don’t startle… I know who it is.
I turn slowly, expecting... something. But not this.
A gun. Pointing to my face.
My brain goes blank. This has to be some sick joke. I shift my gaze from the gun to the face behind it. Our eyes meet, and I instantly realize it; this is not a joke. That look is pure evil. This is happening.
“What are you doing?” I try to sound brave, but my voice is nothing more than a whisper. “This isn’t funny.”
The response is icy, slicing through the air. “Making the world a better place, bitch.”
I knew it would happen someday. I just knew. Funny enough, my body sensed the threat long before I did, and that’s why it’s been acting up.
I glance out the window, searching for help, but there’s no one. Where’s Rocky? Man, I haven’t thought about him in days. “Is he mad? Did he sense the threat and leave me? No way! Dogs don’t ditch you like humans do. He’s probably as trapped as I am.”
I want to scream, but my throat seizes up. Tears blur my vision, and I blink them away, trying to think.
Then that voice again, calm but cutting, “You know what makes betrayal hurt the most?”
I shake my head, biting my lip to keep from sobbing.
“It’s always the ones you trust.”
Silence. I want to talk… stall for time… but my vocal cords are paralyzed.
“We shall believe no one here. Do you know why?”
I remain silent, my pulse drumming in my ears.
A chuckle, familiar and terrifying, breaks the quiet. “Because we all lie here.”
My body goes rigid, accepting fate. I close my eyes as I see the fingers tightening on the trigger.
Then, the gun fires.
Everything goes dark.
