The morning was paler than usual.
The sun couldn't break through the clouds, and the city lay in a gray haze that made everything feel heavier.
Lina stood at her bedroom window, forehead leaned against the cold glass.
She had barely slept.
Images from last night looped through her head: the sound of the bolt, the dull thudding, Alaric's look just before he disappeared.
Sometimes she thought she could still hear it – that quiet, angry breathing stretched between fear and pain.
And every time she closed her eyes, she saw blood.
---
The walk to school felt like moving through fog.
Every street stretched endlessly, every sound seemed muffled.
People talked, laughed, but their voices felt distant, almost dreamlike.
And yet she knew: she had to go.
Because staying away would draw attention.
But with her first step into the assembly hall, she realized she was late again – not in time, but internally.
Everything had already happened before she entered the room.
