ELENA

The night felt endless, dragging me into a restless pit of fear and despair. I lay on the bed, the steady hum of the air conditioner filling the silence but doing nothing to calm me. Every time I tried to close my eyes, my mind betrayed me, conjuring up terrifying images of Dominic barging into my room and forcing himself on me as I lay helpless.

I felt trapped, stuck in some kind of sick nightmare that wouldn’t end. My chest felt tight, and I wrapped my arms around myself as if I ...