DOMINIC

The hallways of my mansion’s basement were silent, the walls absorbed with too many screams, too many final breaths and too much suffering for silence to ever feel empty.

My steps echoed against the cold marble floor as I followed Alessio, the dim lighting casting long shadows ahead of us. The air was thick with something stale blood, sweat, and the kind of fear that clung to a place like this no matter how many times it was scrubbed clean.

Alessio walked ahead, his pace steady, ...