Adeline POV
I knew something was wrong the moment I stepped out of the elevator. My lab corridor is always quiet, cold, sterile, humming with machines. But tonight, there was only silence. The silence was so heavy, the kind that tastes like smoke before you even smell it.
My stomach tightened as I walked faster, keys already in my hand. The door was cracked open. I never leave it open. I pushed it gently, and the faint creak felt like a warning.
The moment the lights flickered on, my breath caught in my chest. Everything, absolutely everything was ruined. The glass chambers were shattered like crushed ice while the metal trays bent at unnatural angles. Across the floor, there were papers scattered like fallen feathers and the medicine samples I had guarded for months burned out of exist
