TESSA.
I jerked awake with a sharp gasp.
For a second, I didn’t know where I was. All I could see was darkness, thick and heavy, pressing against my chest. My heart slammed against my ribs, each beat too fast, too loud. Sweat clung to my neck and soaked the collar of my shirt. My hands trembled as I lifted them in front of me, but they wouldn’t stop shaking.
The nightmare… it still clung to me like smoke.
My mother shot my father.
And my father’s eyes were wide, confused, then suddenly empty.
I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to push the image away, but it stayed burned into the back of my mind. My throat tightened until I could barely breathe. I wrapped my arms around myself, digging my nails into my skin just to feel something real, something that wasn’t that moment.
A knock sounded
