*~~Chapter One Hundred and Fifty-Eight~~*

{~~Avery Sterling~~}

I stared down at the notebook, the pages crisp and untouched, almost mocking me with their pristine appearance. I hesitated for a moment, uncertain whether I truly wanted to dive into the depths of whatever Ava had scribbled down. After everything that had happened, a part of me wasn’t ready to face whatever new horrors she had recorded. But the rational part of me knew that there might be something useful in there—something that could finally lead us to the answers we were desperately searching for.

With a deep breath, I flipped open the notebook, letting my fingers brush over the first few pages. Ava had numbered each one meticulously, like some sort of twisted journal. On the very first page, she had written a contents list, mapping out where every piece of information could be found. I skimmed the list quickly, my eyes landing on one particular entry that made my heart skip a beat: Page twenty-six—“Location of the women.”

For a moment, the world around me seem