At Luxford Academy, the elite boarding school for the ultra-rich, Adriana and Nicholas have been bitter rivals since childhood. Forced to live in the same dorm, their once-friendly pranks have escalated into daily clashes-sharp insults, constant bic...
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⚠️TW⚠️
I'm running down the hallway, barefoot on cold tile, my heart pounding so hard it hurts. The fluorescent lights flicker above, buzzing like angry wasps, casting harsh shadows that stretch and shift as I move. My breaths are ragged, sharp in my chest, every inhale burning as if I can't get enough air. I'm so close. Just a few more steps, just a little further, and I can—
They catch me.
Hands clamp down on my arms, rough and unrelenting, yanking me back. I scream, twisting and kicking, but there are too many of them. They pull me off my feet, dragging me down the hall. My heels scrape against the tile, and I feel a sting as my skin tears, but it doesn't matter. Nothing matters. I just need to get out. I need to be anywhere but here.
"No! No, please!" I cry out, my voice breaking as I thrash against their grip. They don't listen. They never listen.
I see my room up ahead, that familiar door looming like a mouth ready to swallow me whole. The walls feel closer now, suffocating, as if they're closing in with every frantic heartbeat. I dig my nails into their arms, clawing at them, but they don't let go. They never let go.
One of them leans down, his face twisted in a mask of disapproval and something like pity, and it makes my stomach churn. "It's for your own good," he says, and I can't stand the way he says it like he knows me, like he knows anything.
They drag me inside, the door slamming shut behind us with a final, hollow thud that echoes in my bones. My bed is there, straps waiting, and I fight harder, panic surging like electricity through my veins. They pin me down, cold hands forcing me back as the restraints tighten around my wrists, my ankles. I thrash, but it's useless. I'm trapped, held down like an animal.
"You can't do this!" I scream, my voice cracking as tears blur my vision. "You can't keep me here!"
But they don't care. They never do. One of the nurses is holding something—a syringe, glinting under the harsh light. My heart slams against my ribs, a wild, frantic beat as I realize what's coming. I yank against the straps, my wrists burning from the friction, but I can't get free. I'm too weak, too tired, and they're too strong.
I feel the sting of the needle, cold liquid seeping into my veins, and the world starts to blur at the edges. My limbs go heavy, the fight draining out of me as darkness creeps in. I can still hear them talking, voices muffled and distant, like they're coming from underwater. One of them is saying something about safety, about watching me closer, but their words don't matter. None of it matters anymore.
I stare up at the ceiling, the tiles blurring together, and I'm sinking, sinking into the cold, familiar numbness. I try to scream again, but my mouth won't work, my body won't listen. The lights above me flicker once, twice, and then they're gone, plunging me into black.
