He looked down at me, from way up there. “I’ve waited my entire life for you. Do you have any idea how much I love you, how long I have loved you?” He was nearly out of breath.
I shook my head back and forth. “No!” I blinked my eyes to try to make the pain stop. I reached for Gavin, to keep him with me. It felt like I was being pulled, no, sucked, into a black hole at a horribly fast speed, faster than my body could stand. It was crushing my head from the sides. Fighting was futile. My ears clogged completely, and Gavin’s words came out muffled and garbled. Thoughts and voices invaded my head from miles around. They were like someone swiftly changing stations on the radio. In between stations was loud, white noise. Parts of my consciousness, my awareness about who I was, was being shut down like a machine, one switch at a time.
“Grace!”
Gavin pulled me to him, but I pulled away. I didn’t want them to take me. The pain in my head worsened. It felt like my personality, my essence, was being drained. Something was sucking thoughts, visions, sensations, and emotions out of me. I tried to get Gavin’s attention, to get his help. He misunderstood.
She was staring at me like I was some kind of freak. What am I doing here? The kids outside are protesting. I stand, but I can’t move like I want to. Shackles? They don’t believe me! Gavin? I’ll tell them everything. They have to let you go. They’ve reached a verdict.
Gavin tried pulling me to him again, but I stood up and screamed, “No!”
With only my bra, jeans, and boots on, I ran out of the stable. The sound of my own screaming and my boots crunching the snow beneath my feet filled the air, echoing back at me like a sick taunt. I ran in the dark, unable to see more than a few inches in front of myself. Someone was chasing me. My head exploded in ripples of pain, and I fell to the ground. All I could do was hope whoever was chasing me wouldn’t be able to find me in the pitch-darkness.
“Help! Somebody help me, please.” After a few minutes of being out in the December snow, nearly naked, I thought I might die out there.
“Grace! Grace!”
I stumbled to my now-frozen feet and began running, albeit slower this time.
I ran, not away from him, but toward relief from the pain.
Blinding lights fell upon me. Dogs, five of them, surrounded me, barking incessantly at me, as if they’d found what they had been searching for.
“It’s her. Good Lord. Somebody cover her up! Put the cuffs on Vault.”
I didn’t hear anything after that.
For My Own Good
The room was different, brighter. Was it daytime? Had I been talking all night?
I pushed the microphone away as I leaned forward, placing my head in my hands. The aching in my head was gone. Gone too was the fly I’d made friends with. After stretching, I stood and sighed a long sigh. It felt good to move around. I had no problems moving now, and walked toward the camera and looked directly into the lens.
“Hello? Anyone there?” I tapped on the two-way mirror. “Officer Bladen? Mom?”
“All right, Grace, this is how it’s gonna go,” Sergeant Mullane instructed as he entered the room. I turned to face him. His abruptness was foreign to me. He had always been so nice, kind, and supportive. Now? He was kind of annoying.
“We are going to remand you into the custody of Phelps County Psychiatric. They’ll do a complete evaluation within the next thirty days.”
“What? You’re kidding, right? Where’s my mom? She’ll confirm everything I’ve said. I’m not crazy.”
He couldn’t look me in the eyes. “Grace, you can’t just come in here after being missing for weeks and claim it was all a ruse because you needed to hide from demons and dark spirits. And do you remember how we found you? Half-dressed, screaming for help, and running from Gavin Vault? Then you come in here telling this story—and what a story. I owe it to a … to your father to take care of you. He’s no longer here to do it, and now that responsibility falls to me.” He tried to explain himself, but I sensed something more in his voice.
“I saw you talking to Tyler Belial. I know you set Gavin up.” My tone was way more obnoxious