87_Awake

Eloise’s POV

Something was pulling me, like fingers wrapped around the thread of my soul. Gentle, steady, then suddenly urgent.

Pain blossomed through me like a scream underwater. I gasped without air, the weight of it pushing against my chest. My eyelids fluttered open to a cold, white ceiling, too bright, too still. The scent of antiseptic stung my nose.

I wasn’t dead. But I didn’t feel alive either.

Beeping. Somewhere nearby, rhythmic and slow. The beeping that only came with ...