LUCAS
My room was cloaked in the cool embrace of night when it happened. The transition from sleep to that surreal dream was seamless, as if reality itself had been momentarily suspended.
There, before me, stood Lilya, her presence a tumultuous wave crashing into my still-sleeping senses. Her voice, once soft and soothing, now rang out in accusation. She was yelling at me, her eyes ablaze with an intensity that shook me to my core.
"Why did you abandon me, Lucas?" Her words were a storm, tearing through the calm I had known in my slumber. Her gaze bore into mine, and I could feel the weight of her disappointment.
I scrambled for words, the room around me a blur of shadows and disorientation. "Lilya, it wasn't... it wasn't my fault," I stammered, my voice raw with a desperation to make
