Page 37 of Teach Me How To Fly

I closed the door behind me and I took off the shorts, putting them in the washer and turning on the water in the shower.

Before stepping into it, I gazed at myself in the mirror and analyzed each detail of me. I was strong enough to fight a dozen people, tall enough to watch everyone from above, and smart enough to cross the organization and save the children.

I showered and spent several minutes just letting the water fall on my body, then I turned it off and stepped out of it, putting a soft towel around my hips.

I took the hairdryer out of the cabinet and started arranging my hair with the brush. I had a dinner to attend with Katya, so I had to at least look presentable enough to attend the fancy restaurant she might’ve chosen.

I unplugged the hairdryer after I finished using it and put it back into the cabinet. But the moment I pressed the door handle and saw that it didn’t open, panic gripped me and made my pulse increase considerably in just a few seconds.

“Open the door!” I yelled, feeling how close I was to losing my mind.

The memories were starting to rush over me and cloud my thinking. The bird in flames came into my mind and that evil laugh was being replayed over and over close to my eardrums.

I was getting scared. Angry. I had no control.

“Open the fucking door!” I yelled again and hit the door with my fists.

“Wait a minute! I’m changing my clothes and I didn’t know you would be so fast with your shower!”

“Katya, open the fucking door now!” I shouted again and my fists started hitting the door again.

I felt the urge to break something. The urge to hit my head on the wall and just not think about the situation that I was locked in the bathroom.

Alone. With no way out.

The sound of the door being unlocked pulled me back from my craziness, and the moment I saw Katya’s face, I stormed out of the bathroom and tried to bring my breath to normal.

“I’m fucking done with this vacation. Call the driver and tell him to take us to the airport. I. Am. Fucking. Done.”

And I really was.

13

ANNALISE

Isighed as I stood up from the yoga mat, glad that I managed to finish my workout. I was so overwhelmed by everything that had happened that I didn’t have the energy to do anything besides studying and sleeping – and, of course, talking with Maksen through text messages.

Each time I sent him a text message, I felt my heart aching for him. It hurt me that all I could think about was that he was on an island with Katya. But I was worried about what might’ve happened there.

The last message I received from him yesterday made me think that he had done something to Katya. Although I didn’t really like how she was behaving with me, I still cared for her because she was my only sister and I wouldn’t have forgiven myself if anything had happened to her.

I took in a deep breath and made my way back to the house, where I ate my breakfast in the kitchen.

After finishing it, I ran to my bedroom to take a shower and prepare for another studying session. I opened the bedroom door and locked it behind me, then took off each piece ofclothing I wore and finally got to the bathroom to take a long shower.

After several minutes I spent under the water, I sat down at my desk and a thought crept into my mind as I realized I had surveillance cameras all over the house. That meant my father could see what I was doing and he might have already found out that I was studying all day.

I didn’t care less. As a punishment, he could only continue to keep me locked up at home.

This was worse than anything.

I tried to not think about that as I opened one of the books, but my mind had other plans.

Maksen.

I couldn’t wait to see him again in three days and I didn’t expect that I would miss him already.

We’ve always hung out together, talking and laughing over things we found funny, but in the last few months, something changed between us and I felt for him more than I should’ve.

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