The soft, filtering rays of the early morning sun managed to pierce through the heavy, sheer velvet curtains of the grand bedroom. It gently warmed Clara’s face, waking her from the deepest, most uninterrupted sleep she had experienced in three agonizing weeks. For a fleeting second, as her consciousness returned, she instinctively blinked. But as expected, the miracle didn't happen. The world remained heavily enveloped in the exact same suffocating, familiar darkness.
A sudden spike of panic seized her chest, making her heart skip a beat. But as she shifted her body slightly, the decadent feel of the ultra-soft silk sheets beneath her skin and the faint, incredibly expensive scent of fresh white lilies in the air brought her back to reality. She remembered where she was. She was safe.
