Chapter 213
The photos kept coming. Each one a child. Each one bearing that same cruel mark. Each one dead.
I couldn't breathe.
"There are more," Dafa said, his voice breaking slightly. "At least twelve children in the past year. Same symptoms. Same mysterious illness. Same mark." He met my eyes. "Maria isn't the first, Alayna. She's not even the fifth. She's just the one who survived long enough for us to find her."
The world stopped.
I stared at the photos spread across the table, a gallery of innocent faces, frozen in time, their lives cut short by monsters wearing human skin. Twelve children. Twelve families destroyed. Twelve graves that should never have been dug.
"Twelve," I whispered. "Twelve children."
"At least," one of the officers said grimly. "We're still finding more. Thorne's records are extensive, he documented everything. Doses, durations, outcomes. These children were test subjects, Dr. Alayna. Human experiments."
