Chapter 144

CLAUDIA. I wake up with a gasp, putting a hand on my chest as though to check if my heart is still there. I feel it inside me, beating so hard like a drum. That was a strange dream. Perhaps the strangest I have ever had. I don't even know where it came from and it felt like it hit me like a truck. I don't think I can even breathe properly right now. I'm lying down on the floor with no idea how it happened, how it came to be, and what it all means. I look around me, and I flinch when I realize that I'm not alone. Kneeling beside me, looking into my face, are Aristea and Maia. They're holding my arms as though trying to keep me down. "What's going on?" I ask but barely any sound escapes my lips. "What happened?" They look at each other and Aristea looks at me, lifting me and letting me sit up. "I heard that you were about to pay me a visit so I went to meet you, and you were... sleepwalking. You seemed to be talking to someone so I stopped you. And you tried to push me." She subco