The space did not close around her.
It widened.
That should have felt like relief.
It didn't.
Rue Yim stood on the fractured path, the darkness breathing around her in slow, uneven pulses. The distant shape remained indistinct, neither approaching nor retreating, as if it existed only to remind her that something else was possible without ever revealing what that meant.
Her chest hurt.
Not sharply.
Not suddenly.
Constantly.
Like something pressing from the inside, trying to expand against a space that could not hold it.
She took another step.
The ground held.
Barely.
Her breath trembled.
"I didn't choose that."
The words came out soft.
Not defensive anymore.
Not angry.
Just… tired.
The darkness did not respond.
No voice.
No correction.
And that silence—
Was worse.
Because it left her alone with it.
With all of it.
Her hands hung at her sides.
Still stained.
Still shaking.
She didn't try to steady them anymore.
There was no point.
She moved again.
