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The paramedic caught the small glass vial, his gloved fingers wrapping securely around the fragile cylinder. Inside, a residue of thick, amber-tinted liquid clung to the glass, smelling faintly of bitter almonds and stale copper. / Chapter 1 / 20

Chapter 1 - The Silver Needle

The paramedic caught the small glass vial, his gloved fingers wrapping securely around the fragile cylinder. Inside, a residue of thick, amber-tinted liquid clung to the glass, smelling faintly of bitter almonds and stale copper.

"What is this substance?" the paramedic asked, looking between me and the elderly woman standing stiffly by the door.

"Nothing. A medicinal tonic," the grandmother snapped, her voice losing its previous terrifying calm and taking on a sharp, metallic edge. She lunged forward with surprising speed for someone her age, her bony fingers clawing at the paramedic’s wrist. "Give it back. It belongs to our family estate. It is private property."

"Ma'am, step back," the second responder warned, positioning his broad frame between her and the stretcher. They were wheeling my husband toward the door now. His face was still ghostly pale, but his eyes followed every movement I made, wide with a mixture of terror and desperate relief.

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"Don't let her touch me," he whispered as they rolled him past the heavy oak doorway.

I stayed right beside the gurney, ignoring the old woman's venomous glare burning into my back. Downstairs, the ambulance lights cast eerie red and blue reflections across the dark, antique-filled hallway. As the medics loaded him into the back of the vehicle, I climbed in after him, slamming the heavy rear doors shut just as the grandmother reached the bottom of the porch steps, her mouth twisted in a silent, furious scream.

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