The door clicked closed behind me. They dragged me through the drafty corridors, full of sobbing and cries. The steely grip of the nurses bruised my forearms.
“You’ll follow my orders if you want to keep that name,”he said.
What would this place do to me in days? In weeks? Or months?
Would I become one of those ghosts haunting the corridors and the gardens?
Becky’s blood still stained the bathroom tiles.
“Easy now, you don’t want any trouble with us,” one of them said. “Cold baths are good for you.”
They brought me into a large room, where rows of copper tubs stretched all the way to a narrow window. The frigid wind blew in some snowflakes, and our breaths came out in milky puffs. Before I could open my mouth in protest, they shoved me into a full tub.
There was no warning.
My shin hit the sharp edge, but the pain paled in comparison to the shock of my body being completely submerged in icy water.
Thousands of needles pierced my skin while my lungs screamed in agony—someone was holding my head underwater. For one long, terrible moment, I was sure that this was how I would die.
Yet the nurses knew what they were doing, and just as my movements slowed, they pulled me by my hair above thesurface. I sucked in the air greedily, white flashes swimming across my vision.
“See? It calmed you,” one of them crooned. The rest laughed when they heard my teeth chatter.
When my heart slowed down, they pulled me out of the freezing water.
“Blue becomes you, Lady Draymoore,” one mocked.
I shook so intensely that I couldn’t even snap back.
“All calm now. Time to get some fresh air. It’s good for the nerves.”
If I was freezing in the water, the rush of cold air made everything much worse. I was shaking so violently that I bit my tongue, filling my mouth with blood. “I...I need to change,” I muttered.
No way was I going outside wearing only a soaked, tattered nightgown.
I didn’t even have any shoes on.
The nurses cackled.
“Perhaps a dress for tea?” Anne suggested.
“Or a gown for a walk in the park? And a bonnet with a feather?” Pulling my hair and shoving me, they led me to the main entrance.
“Go around and meet our other guests, Lady Draymoore,” Alice said, pushing me into the garden. “Mingle around and be social and graceful, like a proper lady.”
I stumbled down the stairs and wrapped my arms around my body in a desperate attempt to preserve some warmth.
The garden was empty, the bony hands of the trees scratching the gray sky.
A thin layer of snow shrouded the frozen ground.
The cold beneath my bare feet was so intense that it felt like walking on glowing embers.
Mother, sweet Mother, help me survive this.
I limped to a tree and leaned against the rough bark. It sheltered my back from the biting wind. I rubbed my arms, but my movements were slowing down.
How long would I last out here?
