Lara
I exhaled slowly and closed my eyes.
I can do this. I can do this.
Move. Just move. Lift your damn feet and walk. One step at a time.
The wind bit through the thin chiffon of my dress, slicing across the sweat at the nape of my neck like a blade dipped in ice. My spine stiffened under its sting. My skin prickled. But still—still—I stood frozen on the final stone step.
The towering estate loomed ahead like something ripped out of a cursed fairytale. Golden light spilled from the arched ballroom windows, distorted by the fog rising off the manicured lawn. I could see silhouettes drifting inside, twirling, laughing—existing in a world I didn’t belong to.
The music, elegant and haunting, bled through the heavy doors. It wrapped around me like a ghost.
I should go in.
I had to go
