Chapter 5

The power went out at 10:17 PM. I remember the exact time because I'd been staring at the digital clock on the microwave, watching the minutes tick by, wondering how many I had left. Then darkness—sudden and complete.

Michael cursed from the living room. Emma groaned dramatically about

Chapter 6

The morning light streamed through the east-facing windows of my small Wicker Park apartment, casting golden rectangles across the worn wooden floor. I stood in the tiny kitchen, my hands gripping the edge of the counter as I watched the coffee drip slowly into the pot. My first morning

Chapter 7

I could feel my body failing me. The pain had become a constant companion, radiating from my abdomen and spreading through my limbs like slow poison. Dr. Evans had warned me this would happen—the steady decline, the gradual weakening. As I leaned against the kitchen counter of my small W