AURORA MOON
Aurora awoke with a lurching sense of vertigo, the world tilting as she opened her eyes. Light pricked at the edges of her vision—soft, golden, not the sterile fluorescence of the hospital.
For one awful moment, she thought perhaps she'd slipped away for good, her spirit floating loose from her battered body. But then the throbbing pain in her chest reminded her she was very much alive.
She blinked, taking in the unfamiliar ceiling overhead. White. Ornate crown molding. Chandelier shimmering with refracted sunlight. She tried to move, but her body felt leaden and her chest, tightly bandaged, protested every shallow breath.
Where am I?
She forced herself upright, pushing aside the covers, and found herself nestled on a king-size bed. Beyond the end of the bed, tall windows revealed the distant sprawl of hills and valleys that she didn't recognize.
Where the hell was she?
How had she gotten here?
