Back to the Present: Festive Season
Mathilda’s POV
The first thing I notice isn’t the heat or the screams.
It’s the ringing.
A sharp, relentless sound drilling into my skull, drowning out every other noise until the world feels distant, muted like I’m underwater, watching chaos unfold from behind thick glass. My ears buzz , the pressure building until it feels like my head might split open. I blink hard, again and again, trying to force my vision to steady, to make sense of what I’m seeing.
But nothing makes sense.
People are running everywhere.
They spill past me in waves, bodies colliding, shoes slipping, hands grabbing blindly for balance, some are screaming hysterically, voices cracking and breaking under fear. Some are crying openly, tears streaking through soot-stained faces.
