Page 52 of Forbidden Knots

I knew what this was.

They were taking me to the last place I needed to be. They held my arms, their strong hands keeping me in place as myfeet kicked at the ground. My head turned left and right as I screamed again, "NO!"

"This is for the best, Thalia. You will be in a safe place," he said.

Then, a needle pricked my neck, and instantly my body went numb. They dragged me outside, my feet hitting each step, and I felt nothing. At the front door, two more men waited with a bed, and they placed my numb body on it and tied me up. Then they slid me into the car and inserted another needle into my hand.

My eyes slowly began to shut down, and so did the life inside me. The world faded to black, leaving me with the cold, hard truth that I was utterly alone in my pain.

The hospital light blinked in front of me, and nurses bustled around as I slowly blinked my eyes.

"Where am I?" I asked, my voice weak and scratchy.

"Santa Maria Asylum," one of them answered, seating me in a wheelchair.

She placed her hands on my jaw, opened it slowly, and inserted a red and white pill onto my tongue.

"Swallow it," she commanded, closing my jaw.

I couldn't tell if I swallowed it or not; my body was still numb, unresponsive. My head hung on my shoulders, and I felt detached from reality, questioning if any of this was real.

She placed her hands on the back of the wheelchair, rolling it through the hallway. Distant rumbles and grasping hands reached out from tiny windows set into the green doors.

I wanted to scream. I wanted to escape so badly, but I couldn't move, I couldn't even speak.

As she rolled me along, she hummed a song about a little bird. In the hallway mirrors, I saw myself—dark circles under my eyes, my skin pale as a ghost.

I didn't exist anymore. I wasn't myself anymore.

I wasn't Thalia, I wasn't Storm.

When she laid me in bed, she cuffed my wrists and ankles to the bedframe, still humming that damn song that now echoed deep in my brain. I closed my eyes, hoping some demon from this place would visit me so I wouldn't be alone. But as soon as the door closed, there was nothing. Not even a sound. Just that damn song about the little bird she sang all along.

Tears streamed down my temples, and I started to hum softly:

"Little bird, little bird, where you fly?

Little bird, little bird, who you are?

Will you stay, will you stay, or are you afraid?

Little bird, little bird, who did you pray?

Stay with me, stay with me, you will be safe, you will be sound.

I will cut your wings, I won't let you fly.

But little bird, little bird, you will know who you are."

When I closed my eyes, my mind was a storm of curses directed at Tristan. I cursed everything sacred to him, blaming him for the agony I was enduring. Yet, deep down, beneath all the anger and despair, I prayed he would save me from this hell.

My hope in him was all I had left to cling to.

TWENTY NINE

Shadow

Iexited the tattoo studio, the ink on my neck burning under the sun and heat. Shielding my face from the harsh sunlight, I walked down the street, casting a shadow over my face.

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