A silence more terrible than any sound. It was suffocating.
I was alone.
The silence pressed down like a physical weight. Crushing my chest. Making it impossible to breathe.
The guilt sat on my chest like a living thing, claws digging into my ribs.
This was my punishment. For that night two years ago. For being weak enough to love Carter in the first place. For staying silent. For believing I deserved a second chance when Elena never got one.
For being arrogant enough to think I could be part of Jack's family.
I'd brought this beautiful, innocent child into the crosshairs of my monster. My past. My failure.
From upstairs, through the heavy door, I could hear sounds. Muffled. Distorted. But enough.
Carter's voice. That sugary-sweet tone he used when he was being "patient" before the explosion.
"...such a pretty girl... just like your mommy... Does your daddy love Anna? Does she sleep in his bed?"
My stomach lurched.
He was interrogating her. A five-year-old child. Planting seeds. Twisting her understanding. Making her doubt.
Then Daisy's voice, muffled but unmistakable.
"I want my daddy! I want Anna! I want to go home!"
I threw myself against my bindings. Pain exploded in my wrists as plastic dug deeper into already tornskin. I felt the warmth of my blood as it trickled down my palms.
"CARTER!" I screamed, voice shredding. "BRING HER BACK! IT'S ME YOU WANT! HURT ME! PLEASE!"
There was no answer. Just that terrible, unanswering silence.
I slumped against the column, my strength gone. My wrists burned. Blood was sticky on my hands. The pain was distant now.
In the utter darkness of my despair, a single, stark realization crystallized.
This was no longer about survival. It was about sacrifice.
Carter wanted to break me. The only power I had left was to choose how I broke.
I could let him use Daisy to shatter me. Or I could offer myself up completely. Become the target he really wanted. Draw every ounce of his focus, his rage, away from that little girl upstairs.
I would endure anything. Any torture. Any humiliation. I would beg if that's what he wanted. I would crawl. I would debase myself in every way imaginable.
I would become whatever he needed me to be to keep his attention off of her.
To give Jack those precious extra minutes to find us.
Because Jackwouldfind us. I had to believe that. He was brilliant, resourceful, and connected. He would tear this city apart looking for Daisy.
And when he found us, I needed Daisy alive and whole.
Even if I wasn't.
The love I felt for that little girl, a love that had grown in the sunlight of storytimes and tea parties, now hardened into steel resolve in this cold, dark place. That love was the only real thing I'd ever done right.
I would be her shield. Her distraction. Her sacrifice.
