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Struggling

last update Last Updated: 2024-11-16 01:41:25

Zade POV

The room feels like it’s closing in on me, the coppery scent of blood suffocating, clawing its way down my throat. I close my eyes, but it doesn’t help—if anything, it makes it worse. The images come flooding back, vivid and unrelenting. Blood. So much blood. It’s on my hands, on the floor, in my mind. My breathing grows shallow, and I struggle to push it all down, to shove it into that dark corner where I’ve buried everything else.

I hear the knock at the door, sharp and urgent, but it sounds distant, like I’m underwater. My legs move without thinking, carrying me to unlock it. I know who it is. Grayson. It’s always the same knock.

I step back as he pushes through the door, his eyes scanning me, then landing on the carnage. His expression hardens, his jaw clenching. “What the fuck happened?” he demands, shoving past me.

Behind him, Joel and the others follow. Their faces flicker with unease before they mask it, but I can see it. I can feel it. The air is heavy with judgment,
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