Registered under provisional identity
Placed in institutional care under state protection
Referred for comprehensive psychological and developmental evaluation
7. Case Status
Identity: Unknown
Guardian status: Unresolved
Police investigation: Ongoing
No confirmed familial match identified
8. Remarks
The totality of available information indicates that the minor was likely subjected to prolonged isolation and severe environmental neglect.
The duration of these conditions cannot be precisely established; however, both physical and behavioral indicators suggest extended exposure.
Prepared by:
Senior Care Coordinator
Panstwowy Dom Dziecka
(Translated from original Polish institutional record)
The Thrall
Chapter 33
You see, little Ghost? This was never going to end any other way.
I think I knew before I had words for it. Before I could explain it to myself without sounding insane, even inside my own head. There was always something off. Not necessarily broken or tragic, just wrong in a way that doesn’t fix itself, no matter how quiet you try to be about it. It was always there and they saw it, every single one of them.
The looks, the way conversations shifted when I stepped into them, like I had dragged something in with me that didn’t belong there. Freak. I’ve heard it more times than I can count. Not always out loud though, sometimes it sat behind their teeth, but you can still hear it if you know what you’re listening for. And the thing is, they weren’t wrong. That’s the part I didn’t want to admit for a long time.
I kept thinking it was them. Their misunderstanding, their inability to see me properly, but no. Because they saw enough, more than enough, actually. I was just… better at pretending it wasn’t there. You fit with me though.
See?
That’s the difference between them and you. They hesitated, and you didn't.
It’s subtle, almost nothing if you’re not paying attention, but I am, always, and you don’t pull away the same way they did, not really. You mightthinkyou do, maybe lean back for a second, tell yourself you should, that this is where you draw a line, where you close the door and walk away like a normal person would. But you don’t.
You’re still here, still reading this, you let me keep talking and that’s all I need. You feel it too, don’t you?
That thing in your chest when I get a little too close, when it stops being just a story and starts sounding like I’m talkingto you,not around you, not past you,to you.There you are, little Ghost. I was wondering how long it would take before you leaned in again. You do that. You come closer without meaning to. You don’t even notice half the time, but I do. I notice everything about you. You always come back to me.
Always.
Even when that little voice inside your head is telling you that you shouldn’t. And I think… I think something in you already knows why. You fit with me. I need you to say it out loud. No, don’t lie, just say it in your head if that’s easier. You.
Fit.
With.
