Ryan's point of view
The silence
The silence stretched around me like a noose tightening with every second that passed, each breath dragging against the weight of something unseen pressing against my chest, a force so suffocating it turned the simple act of inhaling into a battle I wasn't sure I wanted to win.
The dim glow of the room barely illuminated the space around me, the shadows clinging to the corners like living things, stretching and shifting with each flicker of movement as if waiting for the moment I finally acknowledged them.
The air carried a scent which filled my nose, it was subtle, I could hardly detect it but once noticed, impossible to ignore—something faintly floral laced with something else, something that sent tickles to the brain, something that didn't belong here, something that set my nerves on edge in a way I couldn't explain.
