MELISSA’S POV

My day began earlier than I planned.

No alarm. No noise from the street. Just my own body deciding that 4:30 a.m. was an acceptable time to wake up.

I lay there for a few seconds, staring at the faint glow of the ceiling in the dark, then exhaled and swung my legs over the side of the bed. Sleep clearly wasn’t coming back.

I brushed my teeth, still half in a daze, then went straight to my keypad on the desk. The projector lit up the opposite wall in that familiar, soft ...