“Elvira Remembers”

The moment I stepped out of the council chamber, the cool hallway air hit me like a shockwave. I felt the weight of what had just transpired pressing down on my chest, and I was trying to steady my breathing, to force myself to walk with purpose, but then it hit, a sharp, piercing pain at the center of my skull, like someone had pressed a thousand tiny needles against my temples at once.

The high-pitched ringing in my ears made the world ...