Ephyra woke again — for real this time — with another gasp, violent and sudden. She bolted upright in bed, heart racing like it was trying to escape her chest.
She was drenched in sweat. Her sheets were twisted around her legs, and her pillow was soaked.
She looked at her hand, then touched her face.
Another tear slid down. Then another. And another.
She hadn't realized she was crying until the tears became quiet sobs.
"Mom… Dad… Brother…" she whispered, voice cracking. "Mom…"
The room was silent.
It had been a long time since she'd had a nightmare like this.
After her parents' deaths, she had nightmares every night for almost two years — relentless, crushing, inescapable — until one day, they just stopped. And with them, her dreams stopped altogether. For years, it was silent. Nothingness.
And now suddenly, she had dreamed of them. Of her family. Of warmth.
