Page 31 of The Last De Loughrey Dynasty

“Are you the son of one of the professors?” I could finally breathe again, and the pain in my knees was slowly subsiding, leaving only a burning sensation from where my skin had come in contact with the marble beneath.

George shook his head, wet black curls falling onto his forehead.

“That wouldn’t be possible.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Why is that?”

“I’ve been dead for more than sixty years, miss.”

Cold sweat broke out all over my body, and if anything had been left in my stomach, I’m sure I’d be hanging over a flower tray once more as his words rattled through my body.

I couldn’t contain the cry that escaped me.

I couldn’t do this anymore.

Everything was too much.

Make it stop. Make it stop.

Please.

I need all of this to stop.

Please, please, please.

I jumped to my feet and fled from all the stupid nonsense that was haunting my mind, making me think I truly belonged here. At Aquila Hall for teenagers who couldn’t handle their own minds.

I was done. I was so bloody done with everything.

My knees throbbed with every step I took, and I didn’t even know where I was trying to go. I just wanted to get away. Out of my skin.Away. Away. Away.

I was left helpless because no one understood what this was like. No one believed me, not a single word. But I did. The thoughts swirling in my head made sense to me. I believed what my eyes showed me. Nothing could be just a mental illusion.

I couldn’t hold myself up and broke down in the middle of the stairs that would lead me to my bedroom. But there wouldn’t be a saviour either.

My legs were shaking too much, and I was inhaling and exhaling faster than my lungs could handle, causing my vision to blur. I was overcome with tears and didn’t have the strength to contain any of it.

The wailing. The screaming.

I couldn’t take this anymore. None of it.

“Dottie?” A hand touched my shoulder, and I lifted my head, but I didn’t dare open my eyes.

“It’s okay. It’s me, Gwyneth.” Without thinking another second, I threw myself into her arms and cried against her shoulder.

She tried to calm me by brushing her hand over my back and whispering soothing words. “Shh, everything will be alright.”

I shook my head against her shoulder. “Nothing will be alright. I hate my life. All I want is to be normal, but all the universe is giving me are more and more burdens in my pathetic existence,” I sobbed. “I thought everything would be alright eventually, but nothing’s changed. My entire past keeps repeating itself, and all it gets is darker and darker. And I… I can’t do this anymore.”

Gwyneth was the first person I’d ever told how I truly felt. All she did was hold me in this vulnerable moment, where my heart bled out onto the stairs. While I felt guilty for crying in the arms of a fourteen-year-old girl.

Right now, I felt safe with her. Gwyn made me feel protected from every dark spirit in this school—this world.

“I’ll take you to a place that’ll protect you. Do you trust me?” Her voice was soft, as if she half expected that if she spoke too loudly, I would break into a thousand pieces.

Pulling away from her, I nodded without hesitation.

Gwyn helped me up, intertwining our hands.

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