*Caterina*
My mind went absolutely blank as if I had never had a thought race across my mind ever in my life. I couldn’t think of anything, just simple, mind-numbing panic. My heart raced like a jackhammer in my chest, pounding with the force of a stampede.
Three flashes went by before my senses finally came back to me and I looked around me for something in a panic, anything to help… and one thought crashed upon my numb brain.
“Elio!” I screamed as loud as I could, sure that even in this well-insulated penthouse that the neighbors, including my mother downstairs, had heard me.
I heard a loud thump from the other room, and curses in a familiar voice that reassured me I wasn’t alone. I answered the call, my entire body trembling as I put it on the speaker right as Elio came stumbling into the room with a wide-eyed look.
