Ready To Strike

POV: ELARA

I jerked awake, my spine snapping straight as my lungs pulled in a ragged gasp of air. The stifling heat of the basement boiler room clung to my skin like a damp shroud, but cold sweat dripped down the back of my neck. My racing heart hammered against my ribs, echoing the deep-seated terror of the nightmare I had just escaped. The hideous, deformed beast from the hallway had been right