AMBER
My eyes fluttered open to a white, familiar ceiling.
Everything was still and quiet… too quiet, and the silence started to mess with my heart.
The buzzing of the overhead lights became deafening in the stillness, like a soft alarm I couldn’t ignore.
For a moment, my mind floated in confusion. I couldn’t remember where I was or why my chest ached like I had been crying for hours.
The bed beneath me felt sterile and cold, like a hospital cot. My body felt sore, heavy with exhaustion and confusion.
Then it hit me.
The memory came like a tidal wave rushing through the woods, breath ragged, the prickling fear of being hunted by shadows, and then… the light.
That blinding, burning light.
My heart raced and I sat up too fast.
The world tilted and swayed.
A pair of steady hands ca
