Stepping into the Light

POV: Elara.

I slowly opened my eyes to my very first morning in the bright, spacious new apartment, feeling a completely unfamiliar sense of absolute safety wash over me. The sunlight filtered through the sheer curtains, casting a warm, golden glow across the unfamiliar ceiling. For the first time in what felt like a lifetime, I didn’t wake up with a racing heart, and the suffocating remnants of