Page 81 of Brambles and Bellflowers
Why should I be afraid?
The moment was shattered. Chaos erupted through the clearing as the others arrived.
“What happened?” Damen asked.
Julian’s posture stiffened, and his aura was heavy as he looked away from me. “I’m not sure I appreciate your tone,” he said to Damen.
Damen ignored Julian and crouched in front of me while Miles and Titus lingered in the background. He closed his hand over mine. “Bianca, are you okay?”
“Y-yeah.” My fingers were shaking as I twisted them together. “I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not.” Damen frowned as a line in his forehead deepened. “By now we’ve learned that when you say you’re ‘fine,’ it means you’re not very fine at all.”
But… How could I explain something that didn’t even make any sense?
“Did I do something?” Julian asked, his anger giving way to worry.
“I—I don’t think so,” I said, looking at him. My attention lingered on the ground where the discarded handkerchief lay. “I r-really can’t say, because I’m not sure.”
“Not sure about what?” Damen asked.
“I-if it was real?” I offered, half-shrugging.
A pregnant pause filled the space, and Damen’s next question was wary. “What do you mean?”
“I thought it was a d-d-dream…” I touched my pointer fingers together as I tried to ignore their stares. “I thought that… Maybe it’s n-not? W-w-when I was at the h-h-hospital, the nurses…”
But what if I was wrong? I would hate for anyone to get into trouble.
“The witches?” Miles asked, capturing my attention. “The ones you told me about?” he continued, glancing at Damen and Julian. Damen moved aside as Miles sat in front of me, and he leaned toward me, as serious as I’d ever seen him, as he cupped my face with his hand. “Tell me what they did.”
My heart twisted, but my trepidation faded. For some reason, his touch filled me with confidence.
I sucked in a breath, and the air seemed to grow lighter.
Icouldtell them. Even if everything was in my head, they would let me know. Then we could work on making me less crazy.
If that was even possible.
The words began to tumble out before I could stop them. “One n-night they changed my b-bandages.” I twisted my fingers in my lap. “They were s-scared of me, so they s-strapped me to the bed."
My voice wavered as I rushed to explain. “It was so that they could do their jobs! But then they s-said I would t-trick them and they covered my face with something…” I swallowed hard. “And one of them kept s-spilling water…”
I glanced between them, watching their expressions darken. The air felt heavy with their silence.
“I c-couldn’t breathe,” I whispered, my confidence crumbling as their faces grew more grave. My skin went clammy—maybe I was making too much of this?
“It might have just been a n-nightmare,” I added quickly, staring at my hands. “But even if it wasn’t, it’s not that b-bad. A-accidents happen all the time… right?”
Julian’s hold tightened painfully. On my other side, Miles was deathly still.
Julian’s careful mask had cracked, revealing something darker beneath, as he asked, “Whenwas this?”
My head still felt fuzzy, but the sick feeling in my chest had faded. Did this mean my fear was normal? “The night before Damen showed up.”
A muscle in Damen’s jaw twitched. “They waterboarded her.” His voice was dangerously soft. “And they smiled at me when I arrived. They showed me to her room like nothing was wrong.” His attention snapped to me. “Did they do anything else?”
“Um…” I flinched. “What else… Not—not that I didn’t say already.”
