FORTY EIGHT

NORA

I stirred in my sleep, my eyelids fluttering as I began to awaken. As I opened my eyes, I found herself staring up at a dark ceiling, and for a moment I wondered where she was.

I reached for the bedside lamp, only to find nothing there. A rush of panic filled me as I realized I wasn't in my own bedroom. It slowly dawned on me that I was in Lucan's room.

The last thing I remembered was passing out in the hallway at school.

I hesitantly lowered my feet to the floor, expecting the room to spin around me. Instead, I felt a strange sense of calm. I let out a slow breath, surprised by my body's sudden stillness.

Slowly, I stood up and walked out of the room, my bare feet padding softly across the wooden floor. The hallway was silent and dark, and I felt my heart begin to race again but it was nothing.

As I reached the end of the hallway, I turned the corner and saw a light spilling from the living room, the sight of it was somehow comforting.

I stood in the shadows by the living r