Zuria
The high-pitched beeping of a heart monitor dragged me from the dark haze of unconsciousness. It pierced through the fog like a relentless metronome, pulling me back into a world I wasn't sure I wanted to return to. My eyelids felt heavy, as if invisible hands were pressing them down, but I forced them open with a grit I didn't know I still had.
A harsh, fluorescent light from the ceiling bulb hit my eyes, blinding and cold. I winced and blinked rapidly, trying to adjust. The sterile white walls around me came into focus—too bright, too clean, too unfamiliar.
I tried to shift, to turn onto my side, but a sharp, searing pain sliced through my abdomen. I gasped and collapsed back onto the stiff mattress with a low, pained groan that echoed in the room.
My head spun, disoriented and heavy, but flashes of memory pierced through the haze like shards of broken glass. The alley. Peter's voice, laced with venom. Celeste's laughter.
