At the clinic gate, a 7-year-old collapsed, crying, “Mommy has been sleeping for three days, please save them.” The doctor rushed to help the newborn twins, but as he lifted them, his hands shook. Underneath the babies was a handwritten note from the mother that made the doctor freeze in terror…

beating evaporated in an instant. The bright white lights of the ceiling smeared into a blinding streak, and I collapsed softly into the darkness of Gertrude’s arms.

But as I fell unconscious, a cold voice pierced the dark: You saved them. But you left her behind.

Chapter 4: The House of Shadows

When I clawed my way back to consciousness, the world was continue reading …