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I swam until the glow of his eyes faded completely, but the warmth of his touch lingered. The ghost of his breath, still present against my lips and relentless as the current.

What the hell?

The question kept swirling in my mind, but I already knew the answer.

Why was I feeling this way? I’d pulled him closer, felt the hard press of his cock throbbing against me, and all I wanted was…more.

Instead of recoiling, I’d leaned into it, like some part of me had been waiting for that moment, and maybe I had been and didn’t want to admit it. Fuck, I didn’t know anymore.

Gripping my fists, I surged even faster, trying to outswim the truth. How had I even found myself in a situation like this? Two impossible men that I had no business having feelings for. The answer should be simple, and yet nothing about my life was simple anymore.

Ethan made me feel like the girl I used to be—hopeful, happy, human. But the worst thing about it wasn’t how it made me feel. It was that I craved it. Craved something I had willingly given up. That life was gone and was never coming back.

Being with Ethan felt like a pause from all of the things I wanted to forget. But it was just a lie, and he was only falling for the ghost of a girl he could never have. If he knew the monster I was now, the things I’d done, he’d want nothing to do with me.

Layne had seen me rip a man’s heart from his chest. He knew what I was capable of. And tonight, he’d looked at me like none of that shit mattered.

Ethan saw who I used to be and wanted that girl. But Layne saw the monster I was now, and wanted me despite it all.

What the fuck did I want, though? I wasn’t sure who or what the answer to that was anymore. The only thing I knew now was that everything had changed.

Ethan stood in front of the mirror, the shower's steam still clinging to the glass. He wiped his hand across it as he stared back at his reflection. Happiness looked strange on him, a foreign feeling he hadn’t felt in a long time. Not until he met Evie.

The thought of seeing her later that night sent his stomach fluttering, and a smile slowly tugged at the corners of his mouth. It was like he was some hormonal teenager again.

Ethan still wasn’t sure why she wanted to keep hanging out with him, especially with the mixed signals he seemed to be picking up from her. But still, ever since their date at Pike Place Market, he couldn’t stop thinking about her. And yet, she kept coming back.

Yeah, yeah. Get it together, Ethan.

As he reached for his toothbrush, he paused, noticing the odd dripping of the faucet. Something wasn't quite right. The water dripping from the faucet wasn’t falling down, but up, floating towards the ceiling as if gravity itself had been reversed.

“What the hell?”

Ethan spun around, searching for an explanation, but was met with none. He looked down at the floor, noticing the slowly creeping puddle of dark water coming from beneath the bathroom door. It moved deliberately, as if it had a mind of its own.

What the hell is going on?

Spreading faster, the water covered the entire bathroom floor within seconds. Its touch was cold against his bare feet. Ethan grabbed the doorknob and pulled hard, but no matter how hard he tried, it wouldn't open.

He yanked on it again.

Nothing.

Teddy scratched and meowed frantically from behind the door, and panic gripped Ethan by the throat.

A gurgling sound spewed behind him, and he whirled around, facing the bathtub. Terror spread across his face as water bubbled up from the drain, filling the tub at an impossible rate. The dark water spilled over the rim, joining with the climbing flood that was biting at his ankles.

Ethan desperately twisted the knobs of the tub’s faucet, trying to shut off the flow of water, but nothing happened.

An eruption of black water spilled from the sink, pouring over the white porcelain rim, marrying itself with the now waist-deep water.

Ethan’s pulse hammered in his ears as he grappled with the doorknob, desperate to get out. He slammed his shoulder against the door, but the weight of the water kept it sealed tight, weakening the blow despite his effort.

This is impossible, he thought, muscles straining against the sealed door.

The water rose faster, streaming down from the ceiling now, as if the entire room had been submerged underwater, the pressure forcing its way in. Ethan lunged for the door again, but slipped on the wet tile. Catching himself on the rim of the sink, he pulled himself up and looked at the mirror above him.

Instead of his panicked face, Evie stared back at him.