Steam curled around me as I soaked in the hot tub. The bath was too warm, I couldn’t move, my limbs floated in the water, as if they belonged to someone else. The silence of the villa pressed in like a second skin, making the faint dripping of the faucet sound deafening. For a moment, I let myself believe this stillness could be peace.
Then suddenly I heard it, my name, I heard Mala's voice calling out my name
"Ivana!"
The sound of Mala's voice tore through the air like a scream because the whole villa was damn too quiet. I jolted upright, the water sloshing over the edge of the tub. I froze, no, no, I must have imagined it, it's just another phantom in this place, I must be dreaming again, or hearing things
Then I heard it again, this time loud and clear, "Ivana, where are you?" the v
