273 Not a Dream

(Cass)

I wake up feeling like I’m sinking, caught in a daze that I can’t quite shake off. The drum beating from somewhere deep inside my skull won’t let up.

It’s like I’m stuck halfway between sleep and waking.

No matter how hard I try to drag myself to the surface, something pulls me back under.

My eyes flutter open, but my vision’s blurred, and everything is dim, like the curtains in the hotel room are still closed. Cancun... right? I’m still in Cancun.

I blink slowly, trying to focus. The bed beneath me feels wrong though, harder than I remember. No pillow. I squint, trying to make sense of it all, but it’s like my brain is wrapped in cotton wool.

I lift my hand to my forehead—at least, I try to—but nothing happens. My arm doesn’t move.

What the hell? Am I paralyzed?

I groan, my throat dry and scratchy, as I try again to move. My body feels foreign, disconnected, and everything inside me feels... off. Like I’ve been drugged or something.

But I haven’t done drugs. I don’t use now. I