Elena’s POV

Pain came first.

It did not arrive politely.

It slammed into me the moment consciousness returned, a thick, pulsing wave that started behind my eyes and rolled down through my skull, into my neck, across my shoulder, and settled deep in the places where bone and muscle still remembered the impact of wood. My lungs dragged in the air too fast. The sound that left my throat was half gasp, half sob. For one disoriented second I thought I was still in that concrete room, still bound to the chair, still waiting for the next blow.

Then the lights registered.

Soft. White.

Too clean.

The mattress beneath me...