Evelise continued,
"Because that's exactly how they made me feel like I deserved pain, like I was a monster."
She drew in a shaky breath, her voice lowering.
"Even though I was alive, I felt just like those creatures… the zombies. They were dead, just like me. I was empty inside, yet I kept moving like one of them. No, worse. It was like the people around me were the ones controlling me, forcing me to keep living a life I didn't want."
Her hands trembled as she spoke, eyes distant.
"That's why I let them come for me. I wanted it to end. I wanted them to infect me, to tear me apart, to let me die right there at the altar. Because dying felt like the only way to escape the nightmare my life had become."
Her gaze lifted to Sid, tears glistening in her eyes.
"But then you came. You revived me. You brought me back to the same world I hated but you made it feel different. You made me feel different. For the first time in years, I wanted to live again. Because of you."
