Page 53 of Little Twisted Things

“We’re simply letting you cool down. We’re showing you that life can still be beautiful without the harm.”

“You’re pretending nothing happened. Now, get out of my way.”

“You’re not ready yet,” she said.

“I don’t care!”

The ocean roared with fury as the winds whipped around the beach. I lunged toward the water, staring back at The Librarian and Katherine, who now stood there staring at me.

My knees buckled. I closed my eyes, and Alex grabbed hold of my arm.

“Dahlia, are you okay?”

I slowly opened them, staring at the ground beneath me. People had gathered to see what all the commotion was about. I looked around.

“What are we doing here?” I asked him.

Pieces of my mind felt fractured, and I had a killer headache.

“What are you talking about? You wanted to go out.”

I slowly stood up and looked at the clothes I was wearing. I looked like a damn hooker. Sunny. I shook my head.

“I need to go home. I have a really bad headache,” I said.

“Okay. Let’s get you home,” Alex said.

He walked me to the door. “Thanks for the ride. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Huh? You don’t want me to come inside?”

“No. I’m taking some meds for my headache and going to sleep.”

His brows furrowed as he stared at me. He wasn’t comfortable with this sudden change.

“Sure. Okay. I’ll call you tomorrow. Feel better.”

“Thanks.” I opened the door and stepped inside.

First thing I did was kick off the uncomfortable heels I wore. Then I walked into the kitchen and saw a box of fudge on the counter. When I opened the box, it was rocky road. I hated rocky road fudge. Picking up the box, I tossed it into the trash can. I took down some Motrin and shook three small pills into my hand. After chasing them down with some water, I turned off the lights and went upstairs.

I started the water for a bath, and poured some bubble bath in. I took off the dress and tossed it in the corner of the bedroom. Glancing at the dresser, I saw a bracelet made of blue sea glass. Shaking my head, I pinned up my hair and climbed into the hot, bubbly water, sinking down until it reached my neck.

How dare she think she could take control? The system had made a choice without consulting me. They decided I was too unstable. Too dangerous. I hated that they were right. What frightened me wasn’t that Sunny had taken over. It was how easily she’d done it. I fought, and I clawed my way back. But she’d stolen hours of my life. I wouldn’t let it happen again.

The following morning, as I was getting ready for work, my phone pinged with a text from Tess.

“How are you today? How’s your neck?”

What the hell was she talking about?

“My neck?”

“From the car accident you were in yesterday. Did you go to the doctor?”

Shit. Damn you, Sunny.

“Yes. I did. The doctor gave me a strong anti-inflammatory. It’s a little sore today. No big deal.”