Mattie

In the heart of the Sahara, hidden beneath endless dunes and merciless skies, lies a prison for the worst of the worst. It has no name, no official records, and no place on any map. Those who know of its existence refuse to speak of it, fearing that even whispering its name might invite something terrible into the world. Mattie is one of its prisoners. She remembers nothing of her past. Not her family. Not her home. Not even her own face. There is only one memory that refuses to fade. A car. Flying through the air. Then… darkness. She awoke behind cold iron bars. Where flesh should have been, only bone remained. Her skin was gone, her features reduced to a skeletal grin, and her once-emerald eyes had become hollow sockets filled with an unnatural green glow. The guards offered no explanation. The other prisoners kept their distance. Even the cruelest among them seemed uneasy in her presence. And deep inside her, something stirred. Anger. At first, it was a quiet thing. A simmering resentment toward the guards who treated her like a monster, toward the prisoners who whispered behind her back, and toward the nameless force that had stolen her memories and left her trapped in this nightmare. But the anger grew. It seeped into her bones, whispered through her skull, and coiled around whatever remained of her soul. Sometimes, the lights flickered when she lost control. Sometimes, the metal bars groaned beneath her touch. And sometimes, she heard a voice in the darkness—a voice that sounded suspiciously like her own. Remember. Mattie doesn't know what she was before the accident. She doesn't know why she survived, or whether she truly survived at all. But the prison knows something she doesn't. And as the darkness within her grows stronger, the guards are beginning to fear that the Sahara's most secret prison has made a terrible mistake. They didn't lock away a monster. They locked away something that is becoming one.