“Use your influence in the Walsh Group to clear my name and secure my release.

I believe you have the means to do it.

”

Domenic’s expression was chilled.

“So, who exactly are you?”

The man gave a mysterious smile, stood up, and looked down at Domenic.

“I’m just someone persistently avoided by fate, living in the shadows, yearning for a normal life.

”This text is © NôvelDrama/.Org.

“And how do you plan to help me?” Domenic didn’t press further.

He believed if the man chose to reveal more, he would.

For now, Domenic needed to know if the plan was viable and if this man could genuinely aid his escape.

The man grinned and instructed, “Meet me in the backyard at two o’clock in the morning.

Make sure no one sees you.

I’ll share the details of my plan then.

”

That evening, as planned, Domenic met with the man in the backyard.

The man shared with Domenic a weak spot in the asylum.

It was the place for training fierce dogs, and the man had once stumbled into their compound by mistake.

There, he discovered a narrow crack in the furthest wall—a gap just wide enough for a little boy to squeeze through.

Domenic shuddered at the mention of these dogs.

During one of his earlier attempts to flee, he had evaded the guards and dashed towards freedom, only to be ambushed and subdued by a released attack dog.

The encounter ended with bites.

The arriving security personnel also assaulted him, followed by dragging him back for even more barbaric “treatments”.

He had nearly lost his life that day.

The hospital, intent on keeping him alive, snatched him back from the brink of death.

These dogs were instrumental in maintaining order within the mental hospital, thwarting any escape attempts.

The guards and medical staff steered clear of the hardened criminals, relying solely on the dogs to bring them to heel.

Domenic had once witnessed a patient mauled fatally by these dogs and his face was left grotesquely mutilated and unrecognizable.

That ghastly image had burned itself into Domenic’s memory.

Haunted by recurring nightmares, he spent days in a dazed state, tormented by visions of the deceased patient who seemed to appear before him, whispering grimly that there was no escape from the asylum.

Domenic was uncertain about how the staff had managed to erase the incident, or whether someone had been specifically assigned to handle it.

He only knew that since that time, the very patient seemed to have vanished, never to be mentioned again.

Perhaps deaths were commonplace there.

The staff were detached and ruthless, never smiling, their expressions as lifeless as those of the walking dead.

As the days passed, Domenic found himself forgetting what joy felt like, and even his sense of fear began to fade.

His emotions were slowly encased in ice, leaving a perpetual chill in his gaze.

This marked a profound shift in his personality.

He grew distant and aloof, yet the barks of dogs still made his heart leap into his throat involuntarily.

“There’s only one guard at the facility.

I might be able to distract him, but it’s the dogs that are the real problem.

” The man facing Domenic smiled slowly, his lips curling at the corners.

“I have some techniques for handling those dogs; I can teach you, no strings attached.

But I wonder, do you have the courage to run past those ferocious beasts?”

At this, Domenic’s pupils narrowed.

Although he had become accustomed to suppressing his fear, or perhaps forgetting it entirely, a trace of trepidation flickered within him at the thought of facing such a challenge.

During his brief fortnight stay at the mental hospital, Domenic had come to realize that any chance of survival, however slim, needed to be seized with both hands.

If he didn’t fight back, his fate was sealed.

Such was the unforgiving rule of survival in this merciless world.

As this realization dawned on him, a determined gleam ignited in Domenic’s eyes, reminiscent of how a lone spark can ignite an entire prairie.