Chapter 52: The Weight of Secrets
Elara's POV
The silence in the room was suffocating, pressing down on Elara like an invisible hand. She lay in bed, barely breathing, her body cold with fear. The remnants of the nightmare still clung to her mind like a sinister fog, warping her reality. Every creak of the floorboards, every shift in the shadows outside her window felt like a sign of something dark looming, waiting for her to break.
Her mother.
The image of her mother's bloodstained face, twisted in agony, flickered through her mind like a phantom. Curse Keeper, her mother had called her. The words were branded in her brain, sending sharp, icy tendrils of fear curling through her chest. Why now? Why had this nightmare come when the world around them was already falling apart? The attack. The dead bodies. The growing darkness in her own soul.
And then, there was Alexander.