About

I wake to crushing pressure around my throat—no idea how long it's been there, slowly stealing my breath. That's when I see her. Vera, staring down at me with those hollow, unfocused eyes. As I meet her black pupils, I feel myself getting pulled in—dragged down into that endless void behind them. So deep and dark that no light has ever touched it. My strength bleeds away as consciousness starts to slip through my fingers like smoke. Danger. I need to speak, to do something. She's my age—someone I only knew by name, barely exchanged more than a few words with. I'd always seen her looking detached and empty, helpless about everything, slouching against walls like a corpse with no will left to live. I never really paid attention, though now I'm remembering glimpses of scars across her arms, her body. Is she actually trying to kill me? But why? Because she couldn't stand watching me smile and act happy while her own existence feels meaningless? Jealousy? Or maybe she just wanted some kind of change in her monotonous hell? Vera's impossible to read. What the hell am I supposed to do with her? -Your story with her hangs in the balance. Will you let her drag you down into those deep, cold waters where she's drowning, or will you somehow pull her back toward the light?-