Page 118 of Lost to the Woods

Canhesmell me as I lie here, bleeding into the dirt, the rot, the roots of this cursed place?

I know he’s no longer Ghost.Ghost is dead. But if the things Tyorin said were true, his soul—like he ever had one—lingers.

Can he hear my heartbeat flickering, softer and softer, like a dying moth trapped under glass?

Does he know what he did?

Does he care?

Did he ever?

I loved him. I truly loved him. Yes, he terrified the shit out of me, but the feelings were real.

God. Why him? Why did it have to be him?

My fingers twitch for the final time. Barely.

I’m so tired that my eyes won’t stay open. The trees above me blur, black veins in a dying sky.

I want to scream, but I can’t. My jaw is locked. My throat, thick with something wrong. I taste ash in my mouth.

I want to go home.

Not the cabin. Not the box he locked me in like a coffin.

I meanhome. My dream brownstone apartment. The one I worked for and earned, with dedication and consistency, brand deals, and every comment that picked me apart like meat.

Yes, maybe the skirts were short. Maybe the videos were more than suggestive. But God forbid a girl has a body and dares to enjoy it.

No, I wasn’t innocent. Ididmanipulate men for my own gain. But I didn’t deserve this.

I guess I underestimated predators lurking behind the screen.

Never thought a like, a follow, a DM would end with me here.

Maybe I was just too naïve.

Maybe I was always walking toward this—barefoot, blind, and begging for someone to love me enough not to hurt me.

But nobody did.

Not even Ghost.

Especially not him.

I wish I could turn back time to the moment we met.

Before the lies. Before the woods. Before I knew what love could turn into.

But if I could go back to that night on the rooftop, would it change anything?

Would I still be here if I had just… loved him the way he wanted?

Or was he always going to ruin me?

I used to think he saw me.Reallysaw me.

Maybe that’s what monsters do.

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