Book 3 -40-

[What Are We Fighting For?]

MALIK

I could feel it in my bones. Something wasn’t right. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end, like an angry dog straining against his chains. In my stomach, I could feel the tension of a storm brewing, with the feeling that any second it would unleash a fury of terror upon the world.

It was deeply unsettling. I tried fighting off the feeling, but no matter what I did, it didn’t go away. Possible explanations for this sense of foreboding raced through my mind. Each one seemed somehow inadequate or off-base.

Every sound made my heart jump—a sudden door slamming shut, footsteps on the creaky floorboards outside my door, and each time, it seemed stronger than before.

Perhaps my fear and paranoia had to do with that strange occurrence in the woods. That voice. The warning. What did it all mean? How would they make me suffer?

I tossed and turned, trapped in my skin with the sense of dread that seemed to have a chokehold on me, which I couldn’t shake. E