Natalia & Andrei
Natalia
The nightmare ripped me from sleep like claws dragging me up from dark water. My heart was racing a mile a minute as I gasped awake, sweat cooling on my skin despite the warm night air.
It was the same dream as always—careening over the cliff in that car, the icy lake rushing up to meet me, the taste of blood and water filling my lungs.
Then… darkness. Not the peaceful kind, not the long sleep that came at the end of one’s life, but rather one filled with pain and the knowledge that I was trapped.
I pressed my palms against my eyes, trying to push away the lingering images. Five years had passed since that day, and my brain still insisted on replaying that night in vivid detail whenever I let my guard down.
Sleep wasn’t coming back anytime soon. It never did
