Page 4 of Secrets (The Sins Trilogy 2)
Chapter Two
Iris
The girl is so pretty in that blue dress. She waves at me, like a friendly mermaid, her smile radiant. Her eyes sparkle like jewels, and I smile and wave back. Can we be friends? Maybe she can teach me to swim. And maybe I can teach her to play the piano. A lovely exchange.
Suddenly, murky water surrounds us. She tries to swim away, but can’t. The car seems to shrink and close up around her, enclosing her like a cage. I search for something I can use to free her, but there’s nothing. The current starts to carry me away, and I shake my head, flailing my limbs, trying my best to resist. No. I don’t want to leave her behind. But the flow of the water is inexorable.
She yanks at the handle, but the door doesn’t open. She bangs on it like an angry animal. It doesn’t budge. One beseeching hand reaches for me. But I’m outside, too far away. I want to help her, but I can’t move. The light in her eyes goes dark. Fear and horror war inside me.
Save her.
Except I don’t know how to swim. I never learned. I was too busy practicing the piano. Forgive me. I’m sorry. I don’t know how to save you.
We can’t keep her like this forever. Not medically advisable.
Can’t wake her now.
She’s never going to be the same. Look at what happened to her head.
She knows nothing.
A blank canvas.
Mentally incompetent.
Iris, you can’t do this. I know what’s best for you. Let me take care of you…
Cool hands arrive, impersonal and professional. They drag me out of the water, then out of the fogginess. I’m so tired and weak that I can’t resist as they move me around like a doll. Too late, I realize they’ve put me in a straitjacket. No!
“We don’t want you to injure yourself. You don’t make good choices. You’re prone to doing rash things, and end up hurting yourself.”
No. No, please don’t. The straitjacket holds me tightly, and I struggle in its suffocating embrace…
Only to come face to face with Tony and Elizabeth.
They look at me, identical appalled expressions on their beautiful faces.
Don’t let them take me away. Please don’t.
But Tony and Elizabeth don’t hear me. They look away. Tony’s the first to speak. “What a sad, crazy girl.”
“A shame,” Elizabeth says ruefully. “I didn’t realize she was this bad.”
He puts a comforting hand on her shoulder.
She grimaces. “Makes you wonder about your judgment, doesn’t it?”
“Don’t let it bother you,” he says. “There will be others.”
No! Please! I’m not crazy. I’m not mentally incapable. Please!
The scream builds inside; I want to yell, but can’t. There’s a huge, bearlike paw over my mouth, trapping the words. I struggle even harder to free myself. Tears stream down my face, but the same strong paw silences my sobs of desperation and panic. Tony, you said you loved me. Don’t let them take me away. Please!
“Nobody cares what you want,” someone that sounds like Sam whispers into my ear. “If you’d only been more obedient, we wouldn’t have had to go this far. Now everyone will know.”
No, no, no, no, no.I begin to sob. My mind isn’t broken. It really isn’t. Don’t take me away. Don’t lock me away.
“Let me go! I’m not broken!” I scream, the paw finally gone from my mouth. “My mind is fine!”
