Page 43 of Forbidden Knots

What did she mean by it?

I didn't dare to ask, my lips sealed like a puppet, smiling but motionless.

She got up, her palm now on my shoulder. As she rose, she said, "She is resting with the others."

"Others?" It shot right through me, my lips finally finding a reason to speak.

"Oh, Thalia," she said, coming closer, and placing her palm on my cheek. "You remind me so much of your mother. She didn't know better either."

"Mom?" I got up, moving her hand from my face. "What are you talking about?"

She grabbed me under my arm, moving me away from the window and pushing me to the wall, whispering, "You killed that girl, Sophie."

"No," I shouted, pushing her away."No,"I said silently. "I followed her. She was with a man."

"So you didn't?" she asked, her voice trembling. "Oh, no, no, no," she continued, shouting.

"Youwillstay silent."

"We have to call the police," I said, moving away from her, and heading toward the door.

"No," she shouted again, pulling me back inside. "I protected you. You will stay silent."

"But I did nothing," I said, my voice cracking, turning around.

"You've been abad, bad girl," she said again.

I could feel her behind me, then suddenly I felt a buzzing in my ears. The back of my head hurt, a piercing pain shooting through my whole body. I placed a palm on the back of my head and touched it, but when I removed my hand, I saw blood on my fingers. I slowly fell to my knees, my vision blurring. I tried to keep my eyes open, but my whole world started to spin.

A lamp fell next to me, hitting the floor, breaking into millions of pieces, just like my whole body as it hit the ground. As I slowly closed my eyes, I could feel her arms on my wrists, and mywhole body scratching the surface of the wooden floor. She was dragging me back to the basement.

My body was burning, my head was hurting, and my whole universe was spinning. I screamed inside, breaking apart. I prayed for Shadow to come, any moment, any time from now. I prayed that he would save me, that he would come and magically erase all the bruises from my body and be the salvation for my dark mind. But no one was coming. It was just me.

She slammed the door behind her, leaving my body in a pool of blood.

My eyes slowly opened, the distant hum in the background and cold hands placing cloths on my skin. In the corner, a black music box began to play, its melody a slow, haunting whisper that crept into the silence like a secret yet to be told. It turned slowly, emitting a faint, rhythmic clicking that echoed through the basement like the ticking of a malevolent clock, reverberating to my bones.

"It's the sound of silence," the woman said. "It keepsussane."

She giggled. "My voices like you," she whispered. "They say you are different."

This time I didn't escape her touch. My mind played tricks on me, thinking it couldn't be worse than it already was. Instead of running away, I sat down and whispered, "Thank you."

"You are hurt? I can smell your blood from a mile away," she said, licking her fingers and giggling as she moved away. Then her face would appear again in the light from the shadow.

"She took care of her," she whispered. "Didn't she?"

I nodded, a tear falling down. "Do you know where they are?"

I asked, trying to get as much information as I could. I didn't have any clue who she was or why she would help me, or if my grandma even knew she was here with me, but I had to know as much as I could. I needed to gather strength to save myself.

At this point, I knew no one would save me; no one would even know.

She nodded, smiling. "She found them and kept them," she whispered.

"You like stories?" I asked. "Can you tell me their stories?"

She nodded, kneeling down, and took my palm. With her fingers, she walked up and down my arm. "Itsy bitsy spider running down your arm, itsy bitsy spider went down the drain."

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