Lorelei

I was drowning.

Not in water—something heavier, thicker, a darkness that pressed against my skin from every direction. My body was filled with lead, each limb a thousand pounds, anchored to depths I couldn't see. I tried to move. Nothing. Tried to open my eyes. They wouldn't obey.

But I could hear.

Sounds reached me like echoes through deep water—muffled, distorted, but there. Footsteps. The soft murmur of voices. And always, always, Penelope's voice somewhere nearby, sometimes ...