Chapter 3 - Three
That night, sleep dragged me down like a heavy stone.
At first, it was peaceful. I drifted through familiar dreams—walking the woods behind the house, feeling the grass under my bare feet. The trees whispered my name.
Luciana... Luciana...
But the dream shifted. The trees twisted into black shapes. The ground cracked open. The air grew heavy, thick, almost too thick to breathe.
I tried to turn back, to wake up, but my body would not obey.
A shadow appeared ahead of me. I couldn’t see a face, only a shape, cloaked in a pale, shifting light.
Fear gripped me, but I couldn’t run.
The shadow spoke—not with a mouth, but with a voice that filled my head.
"You must find her."
The voice was soft but strong.
It was like a river pulling me forward.