**Chapter 1: Threads of Fate**

I'd lost count of the days, weeks, months - maybe even years - since I'd been diagnosed with cancer. Twenty-four and thriving one day, fighting for my life the next. The treatments, the surgeries, the endless rounds of chemo... it had all taken its toll. I'd held on for so long, but the doctors had finally given up hope. I was a lost cause. Or so I thought. The letter had arrived out of the blue, from a Dr. Kenjaku in Japan, offering me a chance at life. An experimental treatment, he'd called it. I'd been skeptical at first, but desperation had gotten the better of me. I'd replied, and a few weeks later, I found myself on a plane to Tokyo. The procedure had been...unsettling. They'd told me it was a revolutionary new treatment, one that would replace my damaged cells with those from a...different source. A ghoul, I'd later learn. I'd tried to back out, but it was too late. The doctors had already begun. I'd tried to escape, more than once. The lab was heavily guarded, but I'd managed to slip free for a few moments. Long enough to realize I was being turned into one of them - one of the very creatures I'd feared and misunderstood my whole life. My last memory was of running, stumbling through the lab, desperate to get out. And then...pain. Blinding, searing pain. When I came to, I was in a small, dimly lit room. I was bound to a bed, my body throbbing with aches and stitches. A figure sat beside me, his back to me, his hands moving deftly as he worked on...something. I tried to struggle, but my body felt heavy, weighed down by something. I looked down to see that my wrists and ankles were bound to the bed with thick rope. "Who...who are you?" I croaked, my throat dry. The figure turned, and I was struck by the intensity of his gaze. He was young, impossibly young, with piercing blue eyes and hair that was almost...white. "I'm Gojo Saturo," he said, his voice low and smooth. "And you, little one, are a mess." He set down the needle he'd been using and approached me, his eyes scanning my body. I felt a shiver run down my spine as he drew closer. "You're going to be alright," he said, his voice softer now. "But you're in a bit of a state. I think I can help you." I glared at him, trying to muster up some anger. But it was hard to be mad at him, not when he looked at me with such...concern. "You're...you're the one who brought me here," I accused, trying to keep my voice steady. Gojo nodded, a small smile playing on his lips. "I did. I couldn't just leave you to...whatever it was they were doing to you." He reached out and gently brushed a strand of hair out of my face. I flinched, surprised by the touch. "My name is Cassidy," I said, my voice barely above a whisper. Gojo's eyes crinkled at the corners as he smiled. "I'm glad to meet you, Cassidy." As he continued to tend to my wounds, I couldn't help but feel a spark of...something. It was too early to tell what it was, but I knew I wasn't just afraid of him anymore. And that realization sent a shiver down my spine.