Eloise mocked herself in her heart. Maybe my life has become too simple… so my mind has become slower. Maybe I’ve become numb. Maybe too much silence turns even the sharpest mind dull.
Ellison looked at Eloise's faded face with a kind of quiet appreciation, his eyes tracing the faint outlines of what was once a bright, wild smile from a distant childhood memory. His gaze lingered, as if hoping to pull her past self into the present. But the longer he looked, the more his eyes flickered with regret. It was as though the smiling Eloise, the girl full of spark and mischief, had been buried beneath years of pain and dust. And now, she was gone.
What did they do to you…? What kind of monster do you have to become to survive what you went through? Ellison’s chest tightened with an emotion he c
