ARIA’S POV….

The moment I lay back in my bed, exhaustion dragged me into darkness so fast I barely had time to breathe.

And then the dream began.

Not gently.

Not softly.

It pulled me.

Dragged me.

Tore me from the comfort of blankets and dropped me into a world carved from dread.

The air around me shimmered with shifting shadows, the sky bruised purple and black. The ground was wet, slick, reflecting moonlight in broken shards. A forest grew around me—twisted trees ...