She’s Awake

Four months later 

At Julian's home, in the room where Anastasia had been receiving treatment for the past four months, the heart monitor suddenly started to beep louder. However, there was no one to come check it out. 

Anastasia's eyes suddenly flew open and she gasped loudly as if she'd been drowning in a pool of water—her oxygen restricted. 

Her pale blue eyes fixed on the ceiling, a cloud of confusion settling over her as she struggled to make sense of her surroundings. She drew in deep, uneven breaths, her chest rising and falling as though her life depended on each inhale. 

For several minutes, she lay completely still, her body refusing to respond as fragmented memories began to flood back—the factory, Avery's chilling grin, the desperate escape. It all hit her at once, like a storm she couldn't escape.