*Giovani*

It was too damn loud.

The clock on the wall continued to tick with every second, reminding me of the continuous passage of time–how much of it I was wasting and how little of it I had left. The old wood of the compound creaked and groaned under the storm outside, the rain pelting against the glass harshly.

There was a flash against the window, illuminating the dark room of my study and then fading away like it had never been there. The ...