Ellie was drowning.
Not in water, not in darkness—she was drowning in silence.
For the past week, she had clawed at the edges of reality, screaming Ben's name into the endless void where she had been cast aside. She didn't know where she was, didn't know if she was dead or alive, but she knew one thing—Ben was still out there.
And he had forgotten her.
No, not forgotten.
Something had taken her place.
Something had locked her out.
Ellie's fingers curled into fists as rage bubbled beneath her skin.
Every time she tried to reach him, to whisper his name into his dreams, something slammed against her like a tidal wave, forcing her back into the abyss. A barrier. A wall. A boundary.
The thing inside her body had done this.
It had trapped her.
It had stolen her life.
And worst of all, Ben wasn't even fighting it.
Or maybe… he couldn't.
Ellie's throat tightened.
"Ben," she whispered, trying again. "Ben, if you can hear me, please—"
A force hit her, violent and unforgiving, sending her spiraling backward.
Ellie gasped as she was hurled into the nothingness, her entire being rattling from the impact.
And then, a voice.
Low. Amused. Cruel.
"Why do you keep trying?"
Ellie's breath hitched.
The voice wasn't Ben's.
It wasn't Victoria's, either.
It was her.
The thing in Ellie's body.
Ellie's entire form trembled with rage. "You…"
A soft chuckle echoed around her, circling her like a predator.
"Poor little Ellie. Still clinging to a man who doesn't even remember you exist."
Ellie clenched her jaw.
"That's not true," she hissed. "He knows something's wrong. He can feel it."
A pause.
And then—laughter.
Not the sweet, familiar laugh she once had. This one was wrong. Twisted.
"You're grasping at straws, dear. Ben belongs to me now. And you? You're nothing but a whisper in a dream that will never reach him."
Ellie's nails dug into her palms.
No.
No, she refused to accept that.
Ben was hers.
Not this… this thing's.
And if she couldn't reach him through dreams…
Then she'd find another way.
Even if she had to tear reality apart to do it.