The pain from bone cancer and the morphine withdrawal burned through what little sanity I had left.

A dense crowd had gathered outside my apartment. Cameras with long lenses packed the narrow hallway until it was completely blocked.

"That's him! The drug addict!"

"He looks normal enough. How can he be so rotten inside?"

Xenia stood at the front of the crowd in her crisp police uniform. Her expression was cold as she faced the cameras. "Everyone, this is Caleb, the drug user we arrested yesterday. He's a textbook case of someone who fell into ruin because of vanity and greed."

The moment she finished speaking, someone in the crowd hurled a rotten vegetable straight at my face.

Then, more followed. Some hurled rotten vegetables, some threw eggs, and someone even spat on me.

In the chaos, the wig I wore to cover my chemo-bald head was yanked off. My bare scalp was exposed.

"Freak! He's bald!"

The crowd's laughter and insults crashed over me like waves.

I stood there numbly, letting the filth drip from my head, down my neck, and into my clothes.

Then, an old, furious voice broke through the noise. "What are you doing? Stop! Leave him alone!"

It was Frank Stewart, my landlord.

He pushed through the crowd with a broom in hand and threw himself in front of me.

"Caleb isn't a bad person! He's sick, you monsters!"

He blocked a wave of garbage meant for me with his frail body.

I stared at him as his graying hair was now smeared with egg and rotting vegetables. My heart tightened so hard I could barely breathe. "Mr. Stewart…"

"Get that old man out of here," Xenia ordered with a frown.

Several officers immediately stepped forward and dragged him away.

Aaron seized the moment and turned to the cameras with a practiced tone of concern. "Don't be fooled, everyone. Many addicts are good at gaining sympathy from kindhearted elderly people. We're doing this for the old man's safety."

The crowd stirred again, their anger reignited.

"That old fool got tricked by a junkie!"

"He's probably in on it! Birds of a feather!"

The crowd shoved Frank. He stumbled and hit his forehead on the ground. There was blood.

"Mr. Stewart!" I screamed.

Xenia stepped close to me. Her voice was low enough that only I could hear her. "See that, Caleb? If you don't want that old man dragged into this mess for harboring a drug dealer, you'd better behave."

My body went stiff.

She was using the only person who still cared about me as leverage.

What else could I do?

I lowered my head and stopped resisting. I let the filth cover me.

I stood shaking in front of countless cameras like a condemned prisoner.

…

I was taken to the city square.

A massive, fully transparent glass enclosure had been built there overnight.

It was like a cage meant to display a monster.

I was the monster.

I was shoved into the enclosure. Blinding lights snapped on from all directions, forcing my eyes shut.

A sea of people gathered outside the glass. Their faces were filled with curiosity, disgust, and excitement.

Countless phones and cameras were pointed at me. They livestreamed everything, 24 hours a day.

Without morphine to suppress it, the pain from my bone cancer finally broke free and erupted inside me with terrifying intensity.

It hurt.

It hurt so badly I couldn't breathe.

The pain was so sharp I could almost hear my bones cracking bit by bit.

I started thrashing on the ground and curling into myself. I tried everything to ease the inhuman agony.

I even slammed my head against the glass wall.

I just wanted to pass out or just outright die.

Outside the glass enclosure, the crowd burst into gasps and laughter.

"Look! Withdrawal's kicking in!"

"Disgusting. Serves him right!"

Xenia stood outside the enclosure with a microphone in her hand. "Everyone, this is what drugs do to a person. Once you're hooked, you lose all dignity. You become nothing more than a beast driven by craving. This is the price of self-destruction."

Her voice sounded through the speakers. It reached everyone. It reached me.

My consciousness began to blur. Hallucinations crept in.

The Xenia outside the enclosure was no longer the ruthless police captain.

She was the girl I knew from seven years ago. She was in a white dress. She stood under the sunlight and reached out to me with a smile.

"Don't be scared, Caleb. I'm here. I'll take you home."

"Xenia…"

Tears streamed down my face as I reached toward her. With the last bit of strength I had, I called her name. "Xenia… Help me…"

My pleas looked completely different to everyone else.

Aaron snatched the microphone. His tone was laced with pity and disdain. "As you can see, the suspect is experiencing severe hallucinations. This just shows how the drugs have destroyed his mind."

His analysis spread instantly across the livestream. The screen flooded with mockery and insults.

"This guy is beyond saving."

The illusion shattered. Pain swallowed me whole again.

I couldn't take it anymore. Everything went black as I fainted.

…

A bucket of icy water was dumped over my face. The cold shocked me awake.

The public execution continued.

I didn't know how much time had passed. At the peak of another wave of agony, my body gave out completely.

A warm wetness spread from my abdomen and soaked through my pants.

I had lost control in front of the entire country.

In that moment, the pain, humiliation, and anger I had felt all disappeared.

All that remained was numbness and despair.

The last shred of my dignity was crushed to ashes.

…

Somewhere in my fading awareness, I heard the glass door slam open.

Footsteps rushed in, and a hand grabbed my collar. It was a furious Xenia. "Caleb! Get up! Stop faking it for sympathy!"

She was so furious that she lost control of her grip.

A sharp cracking sound rang out.

It was the sound of my collarbone—already weakened by cancer—snapping clean in two under her grip.

Her hand hung midair. Her eyes flicked from her hand to the visible collapse beneath my shoulder.

A normal addict wouldn't be this fragile. They wouldn't break from a single shake.

For the first time, there was a flicker of fear in her voice. "Caleb… Your bones…"