I closed my eyes and let out a shuddering breath. My fingers were numb and cold, my arm aching where the needle pierced the vein. Something clattered onto the pavement, and I looked down to see the needle. It had slipped out of my hand. Nothingness swirled around me, bringing the first sense of peace I'd felt in my short, miserable life. There was no one to miss me, and no one I would miss. There's always someone else to beat or rape. The regulars would move on quickly. I died. Only...wasn't death supposed to be dark? And since when did 'nothingness' have so many gods? Discord: https://discord.gg/PX3xqJdZMY
*A/N: As you may have noticed, this novel has finally gone premium. Unfortunately, there were a few technical issues that arose in the process. One of them was that the system skipped over a chapter I had scheduled to publish and published "Two Worlds," the next chapter, instead. I have since corrected this issue and added the chapter "Hero" in its place. That chapter explores the rest of Xiviyah's conversation with Elise and provides some pivotal character moments, so I invite you to check it out. Also, due to word count restrictions on updating chapters, I added a new scene to the beginning of this chapter. I apologize for any confusion this might have caused, and I hope you'll keep enjoying the novel!