Tav jerked awake, breathing heavily and staring at the ceiling. For a moment, his brain scrambled to catch up on itself. Something had woken him—he was shaking in his bed, but there was no nightmare or noise clawing at his ears.
Except…wait, no, there was a noise. Outside.
Tav relaxed. Just neighbours having a pre-Christmas domestic or something. He blinked at the ceiling, rubbing sleep from his eyes, and tracked the flashing lights. Some neighbour’s Christmas lights, no doubt.
Only they were…frequent. And really bright, for morning.
Huffing, curiosity got the better of him, and Tav heaved himself up on the mattress, scrabbling at the windowsill, and pulled back the edge of the curtain to peer into the icy morning.
Then he shot off the bed, grabbing for a pair of jeans. The lights wer
