A wave of vertigo makes me pause, bracing one hand against the wall. My body hums with strength I didn’t earn, energy that isn’t mine. It feels stolen, foreign. Like I’ve been rewired into something new, but no one gave me the manual.
Over breakfast I toy with a piece of toast, ripping it to shreds more than eating and sniffing more than sipping my coffee.
Cassidy tries again to explain. “You’ll get stronger. Faster. You’ll heal from things that would kill others. But it comes with responsibility, Sadie.”
“Responsibility,” I repeat flatly. “You mean secrecy. Hiding. Pretending to be normal while I’m not.”
"You are normal, just a different kind of normal." Her voice doesn't betray her desperate hope that I'll believe her, but her eyes say everything. Cassidy’s mouth tightens. “There are rules about this, Sadie. Turning without consent isn’t just frowned on—it’s forbidden. If anyone outside this family finds out what I did…” She lets the sentence trail off, but the warning hangs heavy.
I throw the toast down and stalk across the room, pulling open the curtains with a violent snap. The view of the Galvestonpromenade and the ocean beyond sprawls beneath me, etched with a crystalline clarity. My new vision cuts through the haze, revealing every detail: a man jogging along the beach with his dog, a street vendor grilling meat, a couple arguing beside a car. Each moment is alive, and each feels like it could swallow me whole.
“I don’t want this,” I whisper to my reflection in the glass. “I never asked for this.”
Cassidy joins me at the window, her hand hovering as though afraid to touch me again. “I know, but you're alive Sadie. You can do what you like. You can live the life you wanted to."
I bark a laugh. "Can I?"
"Yes. You have to be more selective with whom you share what you have become, but it doesn't have to be limiting. You'll live; you'll learn, and maybe one day you'll forgive me for what I did to save you.”
“I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you." I shake my head. "I'm sorry, Cass. I get it, I do. You did what you did to save my life, but save it from what? Death? From living as I did before? From being human?”
Her jaw tightens, but she doesn’t argue. That silence infuriates me more than words.
Days drag by. I try to go through the normal mechanics of life. I get up, I shower, but the water scalds my skin too easily, every droplet a needle. I change clothes again and again, nothing feels right. I try reading a book, but the smell of ink makes me nauseous. Television is worse—the sound is unbearable. Finally, I sit on the floor, back against the French doors, knees drawn up, trying to control the wild thing inside me.
Cassidy hovers by the bedroom door. “Sadie, talk to me.”
“What do you want me to say? That I’m grateful? That I forgive you?” My voice cracks into a harsh laugh. “I can’t. Not yet.”
“Then tell me you’ll fight,” she pleads. “Tell me you’ll fight to regain your life.”
I meet her eyes. “That’s the problem, Cass. It doesn't feel like any life I ever even imagined. It feels... I don't know, like something I'm not sure I want.”
"Then ask yourself this: would you rather be dead?"
Her eyes shine with tears, but I look away.
The next day blurs into another trial. My body thrums with restless energy that has nowhere to go. Cassidy insists I stay inside for my safety. I prowl the length of the suite, counting steps, touching the walls, testing the boundaries as if sheer determination might make them dissolve. I hear conversations from the distant street below, the faint rattle of dishes being stacked somewhere in the kitchen, and a high, thin whine from the elevator cables that sounds like a piano wire tightening. It is unbearable and it sharpens me.
“Let me out,” I demand.
Cassidy blocks the door. “Not yet. You’re not ready.”
“Ready? I wasn't ready to be made into a freak. You don't get to make the rest of my decisions for me.”
Her eyes narrow. “You’re my sister. And you nearly died. You’ll stay here until I say otherwise.”
Anger flares, raw and jagged. “So now I’m your pet project? Locked up until you approve?”
“Until I know you’re safe,” she snaps, then softens. “I can’t lose you, Sadie.”
The words twist inside me, equal parts love and chains.
I turn my back and return to my room, where I find the door onto the balcony is locked.Finally, I collapse onto the bed just as Cassidy follows me inside.
“Really, Cass? Locked doors onto the balcony? What, are you afraid I'll throw myself from your penthouse?"
"No. We're afraid you'll be seen. Right now, whoever was trying to kill you may believe you’re dead. You can bet they know you're my sister... more than that, the sister-in-law of the head of Team W. You could easily become a target."
