Waking Dread

Leona didn't move from the bed immediately.

She sat with both hands still gripping the edge of the mattress, her breathing not yet fully returned to its normal rhythm, her heart still beating too fast for someone who had just woken up.

The dream was gone.

But its traces were not.

Lenora falling. Blood at the throat. Hands that hadn't been reached in time.

Leona released the edge of the mattress—sl