Hard.
Flash memory detonates across her face.
A little girl strapped to a chair.
White lights.
Needles.
The same lullaby playing over hidden speakers while voices repeat:
You are safe.
You are compliant.
You do not remember.
“Hannah!”
She gasps sharply and grabs both sides of her head.
“I can hear them…”
Gunfire erupts again through the nursery door.
The barricade shakes violently.
Mason fires back through the cracks.
“We’re losing the entrance!”
Russ drops another operative through the doorway window.
“More incoming left corridor!”
The doctor suddenly laughs softly beneath Gabriel’s grip.
And somehow that sound is worse than the sirens.
“You brought Subject Thirteen back into a conditioning environment.”
Her eyes settle on me.
“That was careless.”
My entire body goes cold.
Because she believes this place can still control Hannah.
Absolutely not.
I grab Hannah’s face gently but firmly.
“Look at me.”
Her eyes dart wildly.
Not seeing me.
