Chapter 22: Splintered but Standing.

Vincent Virenson.

The outskirts of the city never felt so quiet, yet so loaded with tension. My movie setup stretched across the abandoned warehouse lot, lights flickering in the dusk, the smell of dust and celluloid mixing with the metallic tang of adrenaline. It was supposed to be my sanctuary—my way to escape, to focus—but my mind refused to obey.

Every shadow felt like a threat, every creak of the scaffolding a harbinger of betrayal. After ...