“Fix this?” I laughed bitterly. “You think you can fix this? You raped me, James. You ruined my life. For these past few months, I thought you were the producer but what? Y-You just wore a mask to fucking make me believe!"
Kate stepped forward, her expression softer, as if trying to calm me down. “Zoey, listen to me—”
“Don’t come near me,” I warned, my feet dangerously close to the cliff’s edge. “I swear, I’d rather jump than let any of you touch me.”
Kate hesitated, then sighed. “You’re ruining everything,” she murmured. Before I could react, she lunged. Her hands shoved against my shoulders, sending me backward. I felt weightless. Air rushed past me as I plummeted. The last thing I heard before I hit the water was Kate’s terrified scream—
“She jumped! She jumped on her own!”
LIAR. The ocean swallowed me whole. Cold, dark, endless. I thrashed, kicking, trying to fight my way to the surface, but the waves were too strong. Water filled my lungs.
My body ached. My vision blurred. And then… nothing.
I woke up to the sound of waves crashing against the shore. My body felt heavy, my limbs sore. When I tried to move, a sharp pain shot through my ribs.
Where… am I? Blinking, I realized I wasn’t in the ocean anymore. I was lying on a small cot inside a wooden hut. And then I saw him. A man sat nearby, staring at me like he had seen a ghost. His dark hair was messy, his clothes worn, and his tanned skin told me he spent most of his time under the sun. I tried to speak, but my throat felt like sandpaper.
“W-where am I?” I croaked.
The man blinked, snapping out of whatever daze he was in. “You’re awake,” he muttered, his voice deep and rough. I swallowed hard.
“Who… are you?”
He hesitated before answering, “Damon. I’m a fisherman. I found you washed up on the shore.”
Damon. The name didn’t ring a bell, but something about him felt… safe. I tried sitting up, wincing at the soreness in my muscles.
“How long have I been here?”
“Three days,” he answered. “I almost thought you weren’t going to make it.”