= Amara =
If it was someone… who could it be?
The question refused to let go. It circled my mind, sharp and relentless, like a predator waiting for weakness. Every time I tried to push it aside, it clawed back harder, burrowing into the corners of my thoughts until I could feel it in my chest, in my temples, even in the tips of my fingers. Answers didn’t come easy. Assumptions wouldn’t help. Panic certainly wouldn’t.
Clues would.
I forced myself to breathe. Slowly. Deeply. Deliberately. One breath, then another. Let the heartbeat settle. Let the panic loosen its grip. The forest around me was alive, restless with noise and movement—the flutter of birds above, the murmur of leaves stirred by a teasing wind—but I blocked it all out.
Even Mikael’s presence, steady and grounding somewhere
