The Grave-Born Series - Book 1 - Genesis

Suraj woke with a jolt and sat upright in bed, his chest heaving as though he had been running for miles. Sweat streamed down his face, plastering his hair to his forehead, and his T-shirt clung to his body like a second skin. The sheets beneath him were soaked, heavy with moisture, and tangled around his legs like seaweed dragging him under.

The room was dark, but not silent. The ceiling fan creaked slowly above, each rotation slicing through the heavy stillness. Shadows loomed in the corners, stretching and swaying with the faint movement of the curtains that billowed in the breeze from the half-open window. His heart pounded against his ribs, a frantic drumbeat echoing in his ears. He clutched his head in both hands, fingers digging into his scalp as if trying to squeeze out the lingering fragments of a nightmare he couldn't quite remember. Was he still dreaming? Or caught somewhere in the foggy no-man's-land between sleep and waking?