⚠️ Content Warning:
This chapter includes intense scenes involving claustrophobic confinement, panic, and bleeding from injured fingers.
If these themes make you uncomfortable, please proceed with caution.
"I CAN'T BREATHE!"
"LET ME OUT!"
My small body is trapped in a space so tight I can only lie straight.
Darkness presses against my skin like it wants to swallow me whole.
I claw at the surface above me—wood? metal? I don't know, I just know it hurts.
My fingernails scrape and tear.
Warm liquid coats my fingertips.
Blood.
They're slipping now, not from sweat, but because they're raw and bleeding.
I can't even see my hands in this suffocating dark.
My breaths turn thin, shaky.
I try to scream again, to force sound out of my throat, but my voice is gone—buried under fear.
Let me out.
I'm shouting it inside my mind, louder and louder, but outside… nothing.
I need to stay awake.
I need to breathe.
Someone has to come.
They must find me.
Please… please…
I slam my palms against the surface again, ignoring the sting in my torn fingertips.
"AHHHHHHH!"
My own scream bounces back, trapped with me, vibrating through this tiny coffin-like space.
"Help… someone… please…"
My arms burn. My fingers throb.
My eyes grow heavy.
The darkness starts to blur at the edges.
And then—
A shift.
A crack.
A breath of fresh, cold air touches my cheek.
Light.
Someone is opening it.
I try to force my eyes open, but tears blur everything into a bright haze.
Through the blur, I see an angel—
a small face leaning over me, crying my name.