Lorelei

The scream was torn from my throat before I was even fully awake, the sound of the door crashing against the stone wall echoing like a gunshot in the silent, vast room. My heart hammered against my ribs, a trapped, frantic bird, as I scrambled upright, the silken sheets tangling around my legs.

She stood there, silhouetted in the doorway. The same severe woman from yesterday, the one with hands like ice and eyes like chips of flint, had laced me into this dress, this prison of silk ...