LENA POV
The nightmare started the same way it always did.
Not with screaming.
Not with pain.
With routine.
With the terrifying normality of waking up on a thin mattress in a concrete cell and immediately checking how dizzy I felt before I even opened my eyes completely.
Because the dizziness mattered.
It told me how much they'd drugged me the day before. Whether I would be able to stand without falling on my face, whether my thoughts would belong to me for a few hours, whether today was going to be survivable or one of those days where everything felt wrapped in thick cotton and I couldn't even remember my own name properly.
That was the worst part.
The drugs were awful.
The cage was worse.
What really terrified me was how normal both had become.
Somewhere along the way I'd ad
