e screen's pale glow a small comfort in the oppressive black

ing entirely. The storm must have knocked out the cell towers. She waited, her breath shallow, tryin

ce. Using her phone as a flashlight, she navigated thro

wind and rain hit her with the force of a physic

around her. There was no panel. Only the churning g

e gale swept across the terrace, shoving a heavy iron chair across the wet tiles until it slammed into the door's track from the outside, wedging it

the glass, but it didn't budge. She was trapped

. Chandler. The call had finally come th

fingers numb wit

tatic. "Carolyn? The power's out a

m she was locked outside, but another voice cut thr

can't... I ca

y faked asthma attack. It was a sound that had haunted her past life. She steeled herself, forcing down

s and Chandler's soothing murmurs were swallowed by the interference

tly to Eugenia's manufactured crisis. H

didn't even realize she was crying. The cold was seeping into her bones, but it was no

ble in the swirling rain. The battery indicator flash

arms around herself, her teeth chattering uncont

imper cut through t

d scrap of blue ribbon was tied around its neck, the ends frayed. Not a stray from the streets below, but something abandoned here deliberately. A gift rejected, perhaps, or a

that small, abandoned c

d the puppy into her arms. Its little body was hot with fever, trembling violently. She h

Carolyn buried her face in the dog's wet fur, and finally, she let herself sob. She wasn't crying for her

ughts grew sluggish, her limbs heavy. But she never

in to slip away, the lights on the ter

od, his silhouette stark against the brightly lit apartme

ndl

he door open, his face a mask of pure, unadulterated fury. It