NARRATIVE POV
The room takes in Brea’s account.
It was a lot to absorb. But what many of them noted was that he was still there.
Oliver was still fighting. That gave the room a sliver of hope, but what good was it?
“Oliver saved you?” Aria whimpered; her eyes were misting. She wanted desperately to believe her big brother was still there, but then she remembered how he was when she last encountered him.
“He did. I knew it was him; that the monster controlling him wouldn’t have left the key so close. Not if he wasn’t planning to toy with me. He wouldn’t have allowed me to leave that room if it were him. I knew in my heart it was Oliver. The real one.”
“That still doesn’t change the fact that he’s not in control.” Tom was the one who spoke this time, and it surprised many. Tom was alwa
