Val’s P.OV

The city lights bled into streaks of gold and white outside the car window, a mesmerising tapestry that did nothing to calm the storm inside me. The initial, paralyzing shock had given way to a berserk, gnawing anxiety. Ronan’s text, the video… it played on a loop in my mind, each replay more horrifying than the last. A sick, morbid curiosity clawed at me. I had to see it again. I had to know exactly what he had.

My fingers, cold and trembling, navigated my phone’s ...