[Lucien]
I woke to the scent of old wood and the rattling sound of paper. The sheets underneath me were wrinkled, and sunlight seeped through the half-open window. My skull, on the other hand, felt like it had been split down the middle with a dull axe.
I groaned in discomfort and a chair creaked beside me at the same time.
"Look who's finally awake," Hildegard's voice was plain and clipped, but not particularly unkind.
I turned my head slowly. She sat with her legs crossed, a newspaper folded neatly in her lap, her black hair tied back, face unreadable. Like she'd been waiting for hours.
"What... happened?" I rasped. "And why does it I feel like a train passed right through my skull?"
"You had another episode." She clarified. "You went berserk and had to be knocked out. It's only a
