***VERA***

The door slammed behind me, and the sound stayed echoed through the room, sharp and absolute, crashing into the walls and coming back to me like a verdict.

I stood where they threw me, breathing carefully, counting each inhale the way I had learned to do when panic threatened to hollow me out. The room was wrong in the most deliberate way. Silk curtains framed tall windows I couldn’t reach. Candles burned without smoke, their flames unnervingly steady, as if the room itself ...