—Ellie— 

    I wasn’t sure how much time had passed. The minutes seemed to blur together, when Tristan picked me up again and eventually put me down on something soft. My eyes peeled open, heavy-lidded and burning from crying. 

   The first thing I registered was the bed I was lying on. Soft satin sheets, blood-red. A majestic canopy bed made from black wood, the posts twisting as if two branches had wound around another to form each. 

   Tristan appeared ...