AVA

I feel someone's fingers brushing softly across my face... slow, gentle strokes. The kind that could lull anyone right back to sleep.

I turn, then turn again, still floating somewhere between dream and reality. And then, my eyes flutter open.

They're sleepy, blurry... but enough to catch the outline of a familiar statue hovering over me.

Nicklaus. "Phoenix, you're awake?"

His voice sounds more like a question than a statement.

I blink once. Twice. The room comes into focus.

And then, boom. It hits me. Everything. The pain. The chaos. The bite. The truth.

My hand flies to my chest trying to feel if what I felt earlier was...