Chapter 134

• The hospital’s cold air still clung to my skin when I finally stepped outside. Night had fallen hard no stars, no moon just a thick, suffocating darkness swallowing the empty streets. A few cars passed by like ghosts, distant and detached.
• I had to admit it: Vanessa’s plan had been crude, clumsy even, but in the end, it had worked. She always knew exactly where to strike the things I treasured most. Jason. My parents. My vulnerabilities, laid bare for her to exploit.
• Sometimes, in the quiet moments when no one was watching, I doubted myself. Was I really the monster they all made me out to be? Was I so unforgivable that hatred was all I deserved abandonment and scorn? All those years of clawing my way through darkness, was it all pointless? Even if I clawed my way to the top, would anyone care? Would anyone stand by me? The truth was deep down I was utterly alone.