#Chapter 74: The Start

Lauren The little red pill sat in the center of my palm, looking entirely too innocent for something that promised a week of pain and chaos. Liam’s words echoed in my head: “Take one every morning. And… hold on.” Not exactly comforting instructions. I exhaled, rolled my shoulders, and swallowed it dry. It burned going down. I sat there, waiting for something dramatic to happen—lightning, maybe? Sudden nausea? Explosive transformation? But nothing. Just the dull hum of my bedroom and the distant sound of someone walking downstairs. I sighed. Maybe Liam had been overhyping this whole thing. Or maybe not. The first sign that things were different came as I stepped into the hospital for work. I’d barely gotten through the doors when sound exploded around me. It was like someone had turned the world’s volume up to eleven. “…her blood test results came back abnormal.” “She’s been running a fever for three days—” “…going to propose next weekend. Think she’ll say yes?” “