up on the ground.
Correction, floor.
I curled my fingers against something soft to the touch but hard against my body. A wooden floor. Cedar.
That meant I wasn't at home. My eyes flew open, and I immediately regretted it. My head pounded, and my stomach clenched, hungry and upset all at once.
"Be careful and stay down, Storri. That sedative wears off slowly—"
At hearing his voice, my body tensed, curling into a ball while also trying to run away. "Mr. Grouse," I gasped. "What have you…" My throat was too dry, and I choked on my words. Hard wood slammed into my spine as I crawled back to the wall.
"You're safe. Calm down," Mr. Grouse soothed. "Everything is going to be fine now."
Absolutely nothing looked like it was fine. We were the only people in a small room. The curtains on the window had all been drawn, the only light coming from a humming, uncovered bulb at the middle of the ceiling. On the ground there was the remnants of a carpet, worn through and shredded in many places.
Nearest to me sat a dusty twin bed, then a sink and a toilet. Everything a person needed to live all in one room.
It felt like I'd swallowed a razor.
"I know what you're thinking, but this isn't forever. Just until I can figure out how to keep you safe, Storri. You understand, right?"
No. I didn't understand anything, not where I was or why, not how my closest mentor was suddenly acting insane. "Someone will find me," I croaked feebly, knowing no one would be looking for me. Maybe the university would call if I didn't show up for orientation, but Mr. Grouse couldn't be planning on keeping me here for that long. Orientation was weeks away! Except…
"What about graduation?" A seed of hope wiggled between my ribs.
"I called the principal and explained you'd gotten early admission. He was proud and wishes you the best."
My chest and shoulders slumped. The weight of knowing I'd miss my commencement was one pound too many. "You can't leave me up here!"
There was only one bed, a cot at that. He wasn't planning on staying here too, and I didn't know if that should scare me more or be a relief. A muffled flapping sound came through the roof, and something in me told me not to draw attention to it.
"You have everything you need. I've made sure of it," he replied cheerily. "The television is battery-operated. No cable, but I can bring you movies. And I brought all your favorite books. It won't be like how you wanted, but this is better, Storri. What you can do, it isn't—"
Everything I needed? I didn't need movies and books; I needed to be packing my bags. I needed to get to campus and start my life. To be surrounded by life and movement. My unspoken words bounced inside me like bees defending a hive. Mr. Grouse was supposed to be my friend. Instead, he called me unnatural and took me against my will. The flapping sound grew louder, too loud for him not to notice.
"What in the…" He walked to one of the curtained windows and yanked the shades open.
It looked like an overpopulated aviary. Birds of all shapes and sizes pecked and clawed at the window, their wings flapping angrily as they jostled into one another. In the distance, I saw only a sea of green in a thousand different shades, stretching on for miles.
"Make them stop," Mr. Grouse commanded, his voice shaking. He snapped the shades closed.
I couldn't make it stop. I wasn't making them do anything. Not explicitly. Animals were drawn to me, and that effect only strengthened whenever I was feeling a particularly strong emotion. At this moment, that emotion was terror. "It isn't me. I'm not doing this."
The cawing coming from outside shook the wooden walls of the tower. Now that I knew what the outside looked like, I could assume we were in a ranger station, maybe. That was good; rangers usually popped up at those sorts of places. All I needed to do was keep my head until then. I'd be found. I'd be rescued, and Mr. Grouse could get the mental help he obviously needed.
"Don't lie, Storri," Mr. Grouse snarled. I didn't know if it was his fear or my dishonesty that set him off, but he'd, without a doubt, never spoken to me with that tone of voice.
My ears burned, and my throat closed up as I tried to fight back tears.