ARIA POV
Gone.
My brain didn’t explode. It didn’t even scream.
It simply… emptied.
There was a strange silence inside my head, as if someone had unplugged me from myself. I stared at Elias’ mouth moving. I saw Alaric’s hand tightening around the phone. I heard the monitor beside me change its rhythm.
But none of it made sense yet.
Gone.
My lungs forgot how to work.
I tried to inhale and nothing came in. My chest expanded but it was like there was no air in the room. Just pressure. Just weight sitting on my ribs.
My hands clawed at my own throat as if I could pry the panic out with my fingers. I couldn’t tell where my skin ended and the terror began.
“No,” I whispered.
It didn’t sound like me.
It sounded thin. Wrong. Like a voice coming from behind glass.
Alaric was saying som
