Misty

Everything else is a blur. Aviva’s screamed words. Ella’s rushed explanations. Grandma taking me by the shoulders and leading me away, tucking me in a sitting room somewhere in the depths of the castle. I barely feel her arm on my shoulder. I barely register sitting down in a chair, holding the bloody pages in my lap and watching the firelight dance over the untidy scrawl I know so well.

I sit there for what could be hours. Eventually, I’m joined by Sarah and Kenna… and then Aviva.

Still, I haven’t read the letter. I’ve read my name, addressed at the top of the first page, over and over...