I woke up to a quiet room, the kind of silence that makes your ears ache. Sunlight seeped through the thin curtains, painting golden stripes across my sheets, and for a moment I just lay there, staring at the ceiling, trying to remember what had happened last night. My head throbbed like a drum, and my pulse felt… different. Sharp. Electric. It was like something had woken inside me while I slept.
I pushed myself up slowly, the sheets sticking to my skin. I flexed my fingers, and that tingling sensation shot up my arms again, stronger this time, almost like fire under my skin. My reflection in the mirror across the room caught my attention—I froze. My eyes… they were sharper, more alert. I could see every detail in the room with an almost painful clarity.
I shivered and backed away, pres
