I stayed frozen, like I was standing on the edge of something I didn’t want to cross. My body was tense, every muscle pulling in the opposite direction of this place. But Lilith, calm as always.

She smiled, a little, and reached out. Warm fingers brushed against mine, and for a moment, I almost pulled away. But I didn’t. I let her take my hand again and guide me toward the bed. She pressed down gently on my shoulder until I sat.

The mattress was too soft. Too perfect. It felt wrong, like I could sink straight through it. Like it might swallow me whole.

But I didn’t flinch. I didn’t move.

I looked at her, sitting across from me, her eyes steady.

“What now?” I asked, voice sharp but controlled.

“You can relax,” she said, kneeling in front of me.

“I’m fine,” I replied. I didn’t like the way she looked at me—like she could see straight through every lie I told myself.

Lilith didn’t respond. She just waited.

She reached toward my neck and I flinched without thinking.

“I didn’t wanna scare you,” she said calmly.

I snapped, “Don’t do such things unexpectedly.”

She didn’t back off. Just looked into my eyes—too deep, too personal. “May I…?” she asked, motioning toward my badge.

She carefully unclipped it, her touch gentle but insistent. Her fingers brushed against my skin, like she wasn’t breaking rules right now. Right here.

“You don’t need to wear this in here,” she said, voice low and calm. “Not with me.”

I felt the weight leave my chest as she set it down on the dresser.

I didn’t need the badge to remind me where I came from. I didn’t need anything to tell me what I was. I know who I am.

“Want some food?” she asked, pulling me out of my thoughts.

“Food?” I echoed.

She turned to the panel by the door and pressed a button. The chime that followed was too polite, too controlled. Like everything here. Like everyone here.

“You haven’t had a full meal in days,” she said over her shoulder. “Don’t lie.”

I clenched my jaw but didn’t argue. She wasn’t wrong, but hunger wasn’t something new to me.

She turned back. “Bathroom’s through there. Water’s hot. Take your time.”

She crossed to the closet and pulled out something soft in muted colors. Held it out. “Fresh clothes. I thought—”

“I don’t need them,” I said coldly.

She looked at my clothes. “But wouldn’t it be better to change?”

I laughed. “So I’m dirty to you? Right. Of course. A filthy mouse from the Wasteland. I don’t even know what I’m doing here—”

Lilith interrupted me. “I didn’t say that. I just wanted you to feel more welcome. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. Can’t you let your guard down even for a moment?”

Silence stretched between us for a second. Comfortable for her. Too open for me.

She didn’t push farther. Just set the clothes neatly on the edge of a chair, like she knew I’d eventually come around.

“I’ll be right outside,” she said. “In case you need anything.”

I closed my eyes, just for a second. Just trying to calm down.

But then the noise came first.

Gunshots. Close. Too close.

Then shouting, laughing.

That voice.

“Look what we got here… pretty little rat.”

Hands grabbing. Rough. Unforgiving.

“Pretty girls aren’t supposed to be thieves, you know?”

“Let me fucking go!”

“You bark, huh? Maybe you need someone to teach you manners.”

He started pulling at my jacket. Fingers yanking. Clumsy. Impatient.

I bit him. Hard.

Blood hit my tongue.

He yelled. “Fucking bitch!”

“You wanna fight, huh? That it?”

His boot slammed into my stomach.

Then my head. My ribs. My side.

I tried to move. Tried to breathe. I couldn’t.

My mouth filled with copper.

He didn’t stop. He kept going. Words slurred into grunts. Fists into thunder. My body into the concrete.

I didn’t scream. Not once.

I remember how the blood pooled near my cheek. Warm. Slow.

The world blurred sideways. Time stretched. Or collapsed.

I couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe. Everything spun.

Then—

“Musa?”

Orid’s voice. Distant. Like a broken radio.

Then him screaming my name. Trying to stop the blood.

—

A noise brought me back.

Lilith stepped in with a tray of food.

The smell of it, warm, almost too much.

She set the tray down and came closer. She reached for my shoulder. Touching me again.

“Are you okay?”