Daphne Awakens

The world was a cacophony of chaos before Carmen stirred. It was not the chaos of her surroundings but of her mind. Voices—hundreds of them, loud and bone-curdling—echoed in her head, pressing against her consciousness like a violent storm. The voices clamored in her ears, some distant and garbled, others so close they felt like they were screaming inside her skull.

Footsteps thundered in her ears, hurried and desperate, as if the ground itself trembled beneath their weight. What was it? She had no idea, but what she knew was that the pain she felt in her head was pushing her to the brink of opening her eyes. The noise swelled until one voice, sharp and commanding, rose above the rest, piercing through the din like a blade.

“Doctor, you will wake her up! Do you understand me? You need to take care of her! If my daughter isn’t awake by tonight, you’ll not only lose your job, Magnus, you will lose your head!” a woman shouted, her voice trembling with fury and desperation.