66. Open up

Emma jolted awake from her sleep at the sound of a door shutting with a bang.

Grasping for breath, she sat up straight with widened eyes. Her throat had gone dry from all the panting she had endured during her sleep, and her mind was still gripped with fear. Enduring nightmares had become a common thing for her by now, but she couldn’t grow immune to them. If anything, things had only gotten worse and worse for her. Every night it was a different dream, different struggle yet from the same person. Swiping the sweat off her forehead, she pushed the thin, sorry excuse for a blanket away from her body.

Sighing, she ran her eyes over the tiny room she was sleeping in, at the top of which lay an uncovered vent. The winter had begun and it was showing no mercy whatsoever. By itself, the thin walled room barely shielded her from the growing cold outside, and having no heater only made it worse. As if that wasn’t enough, the glass shield of the vent had broken, allowing air to easily slip in