Aria woke with a gasp, her lungs burning as if she’d been holding her breath for an eternity. The phantom echo of crumbling stone and distorted screams clawed at the edges of her memory. Sweat slicked her forehead, clinging to the soft tendrils of hair that framed her face. Her heart hammered against her ribs, a frantic drumbeat in the eerie silence of her simulated room. The digital clock on her bedside table glowed a soft, unwavering blue: 3:17 AM.
She pushed herself up, her limbs heavy with a fear that lingered beyond the dream. The nightmare was a familiar one, a kaleidoscope of fractured realities and chasing shadows, but tonight it had been different. Sharper. More intrusive. She could almost taste the ash and despair, not just in her mind, but on her tongue, metallic and bitter. It
