Chapter 48: Fragments of a Forgotten Past

Lucia came to with a sharp gasp, the kind that tore up her throat like she’d been drowning.

She jolted upright, heart hammering in a wild rhythm against her ribcage. Cold sweat clung to her skin like a second layer. Her hair stuck to her forehead in damp strands, and every inch of her body trembled as though she’d just escaped something unseen but terrifyingly real. Her eyes darted frantically around the room, struggling to distinguish memory from reality. The faint light filtering through the gauzy curtains was too soft, too warm, to belong to that alley. But the weight in her chest remained heavy—like she hadn’t quite escaped.

The bed beneath her was too plush. The sheets too clean. Her fingers rose hesitantly to her face, expecting to feel the sting of a bruise, the ghost of a bloody fist—but there was nothing. No broken skin, no pain. Only her shallow, ragged breathing and the faint hum of air-conditioning in the background, wh