Page 57 of Visions of Darkness

Jill came again, smiling and chatting like we were friends as she changed my bandage, thrilled to see it was continuing to heal.

“You two have a good night,” Jill whispered, then hesitated at the door. “I guess I won’t see either of you again, will I?”

Jenny groaned her excitement. “That’s right; I’m getting out of here!”

“I wish you the absolute best, Jenny,” Jill told her.

Then she looked at me in what I thought might be an apology. In an understanding that no one had ever watched me with before. Likeshe was on the verge of awareness. “And I wish you peace as you move on from here, Aria. Be careful, and take care of yourself.”

The ball in my throat made it difficult to speak. “I’ll try.”

I’ll try.

She flicked out the light.

Tonight, I didn’t close my eyes.

I didn’t snuggle down into the uncomfortable bed.

I refused the drooping of my lids, the lure of sleep whispering somewhere at the back of my mind, my soul drenched and aching for the purpose lingering on the other side.

I just waited.

The whole time, I let my spirit call out to Pax.

I whispered that I loved him. I let my spirit cover him with the hope I held for him. Basked him in the truth that the selfish side of me wished we’d met under different circumstances.

Where he wasn’t only a figment of my mind.

Because what if that’s all that this was?

What if I had slipped into insanity years ago?

Except I knew better.

I knew this was brutally real when, in the middle of the night, the door creaked open, and a sliver of light crested into the small room.

The same rubber soles squeaked on the linoleum floor, muted as he approached my bed.

It was so very real as I was covered by the foulness of his breath and the stench of his presence.

A wave of terror rushed through my body.

A torrent.

And I had little of that strength that Ellis had talked about.

But it was a speck.

A battle cry that erupted from the depths.

My only chance when they’d left me without defense.

I opened my mouth to scream.

Only a meaty palm flew out to cover it, cutting off the sound before it reached the air.

“Shh, don’t make a sound, pretty girl,” he wheezed. “There’s no need to fight it. He told me you were mine.”

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