CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE

|•| DESIRÉE DOYLE |•|

It was funny how the darkness was one thing most of us were terrified of as kids but as we grew older, it became our escape. It became a form of solitude to cling to whenever we needed to get away from the outside world.

Like I was currently doing.

I didn't know if I had willingly immersed myself into oblivion but whatever it was, it was still, quiet and my mind felt absent. There was a sense of relief that was attached to being here. I got to hide away from the things I didn't want to think about or confront and I knew I could hang in here for as long as I wanted, denying the nightmare that had now become my reality.

But even a feeling like this was fleeting because a stubborn invisible force incessantly tugged at me, wanting to yank me awake. At first, it was easy to resist but it was as though it knew that the more I lingered here, the more I retreated into my unconscious mind.

Thus, when my eyes fluttered open, as slowly as they could ever be, and they connec