Page 27 of Visions of Darkness

My heart clutched when I saw what was at the bottom. It was the stuffed bear I had slept with until I was seven and now kept propped on the dresser in my room, a tangibleI love youfrom my mother.

Sadness swept through me, grief at what was to come and what I was going to have to do.

“Hi!”

I whirled around when the eager voice hit the air, the oxygen ripping from my aching lungs on a rasp. I gulped when I realized I was in no danger.

It was only a girl about my age standing in the doorway. I struggled to calm the frayed nerves that had me on edge.

She was short and cute, and her blond hair was in a messy twist on top of her head. She wore a sweater, sweatpants, and socks, and she popped up onto her toes and clapped her hands as if she hadn’t noticed she’d just scared the crap out of me.

“I heard I got a new roommate, and I saw you in the cafeteria sitting by yourself, and I really hoped it was you. I am so excited you’re here. I’vebeen here for four days by myself, and it’s so freaking boring, you have no idea. I’m Jenny.” Without pause, the words flooded from her mouth.

Her loneliness rushed out with it, a palpable wave that came from out of nowhere and struck me in the chest.

“I’m Aria,” I murmured.

“Oh my God, this is going to be amazing. We’re going to have a blast together,” she said as she scurried to her bed. After climbing on top, she crisscrossed her legs and faced me.

I moved to sit on the edge of mine.

“And you’re so pretty.” She said it right before she fully met the force of my eyes. Reeling back, she dropped her gaze, all of a sudden becoming very interested in a bare spot on the floor.

I hated that the sight of me caused her to have a reaction like that, the way it often did when people met my gaze.

My eyes, so pale gray they were almost completely white. Pupils close to nonexistent.

I hated for her to fear.

Only she seemed to work through it—refuse it—and she returned her attention to me, as if she’d decided she wouldn’t allow my strange-colored eyes to freak her out.

I let go of a soft laugh. “So are you.”

Bouncing on the mattress, she smiled, so wide. “It is seriously so cool you’re here. I mean, I know it sucks and all, but at least we can go through it together, right?”

I was struck with the sudden impulse to hug her. To chase away the loneliness that was clear in her faked smile.

The urge was intense.

Powerful.

Again, it was something I’d never felt before. This strange sensation to reach out and touch.

It was so intense I had to force myself to remain sitting, to swallow it down and ignore the compulsion that crawled over me like a skitter of ants.

“So tell me what you’re in for.” Her voice was casual, though I could still sense the tremor.

How did I answer that? The last thing I wanted to do was ignore her need to connect with me, so I tugged down the neck of my shirt and twisted around so she could see part of the bandage that ran from the top of my shoulder and across my back.

Earlier, I’d barely been aware of them cleaning it.

When I’d been sedated and numb, they’d taken me into an exam room to get my weight, height, and vital signs. I’d squeezed my eyes closed when they undressed me and took pictures of each scar, and I’d tried to ignore their murmurs of disbelief and barely hidden disgust when they saw the new burn, which looked like a charred gash running across my back.

They had cataloged each wound as if they were cataloging my illness.

Afterward, the fresh burn had been cleaned and a bandage placed.

“You’re a cutter.” Jenny whispered it. Sympathy wove into her tone.

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