74. Regression

“Wait,” he said, his voice tight with urgency. “You have to tell me more. I have no clue what really happened in there—I need to understand. What kind of tests were they?” His question hung in the air, thick with the weight of unanswered truths. Brigid met his gaze, her expression unreadable, and for a long moment, she simply studied him, as if deciding just how much he was ready to hear. Brigid exhaled slowly, her gaze fixed on Jayden with the weight of someone who had seen too much. “Listen carefully, Jayden,” she began, her voice steady but firm. “There are three stages to this test. Each one was designed to break you, to push you beyond your limits, and to force you to confront what lies buried within.” Jayden swallowed hard, his fingers curling against his palms. He wasn’t sure he wanted to hear this—but he needed to. “The first stage,” Brigid continued, “dragged out your past and showed you the consequences of who you once were. It forced you to witness what could have happened i