Chapter 56

Emma's

I blinked my eyes open, disoriented. My mind was sluggish, like it hadn’t fully woken up with the rest of me.

At first, everything was a blur. I couldn’t even tell where I was.

But after a few seconds, my brain began to catch up, piecing things together. The cold, hard surface beneath me.

The roughness of stone pressing against my back. I coughed, the taste of dust sharp in my throat.

Slowly, I tried to sit up. The effort was harder than it should have been, and a sharp pain ran down my arms as my hands scraped the ground.

That’s when I felt it—the tightness around my legs. I glanced down, heart sinking.

My legs were bound with thick rope, leaving me unable to move freely.

Where am I?

The question slipped out of my mouth, my voice barely a whisper. But no one was there to answer.

The room around me was cloaked in darkness.

I could barely make out the shape of anything—just shadows merging into more shadows. I was alone. Completely alone.

"Georgory!" I called o