“L-like what?” Talia stammered.
“Like you’re trying to give me away.”
A soft laugh slipped from my lips. It started as a quiet chuckle, then deepened into something darker as I kept my back to her.
“I’m not!” she rushed out. “Haelyn, I swear I’m not!”
The bulb above me flickered once, then twice, buzzing loudly through the basement.
I stared up at it.
“They know you know,” I murmured.
A strained silence followed.
“Who… who knows?” Talia asked carefully. “And what dotheythink I know?”
“The voices.” I briefly glanced back at her over my shoulder, smiling. “They know you hear me talking to them.”
“I… I don’t hear them!” she exclaimed quickly. “I only hear you! That’s it!”
I sighed. “That’s what they said you would say. You know… I’m their only family, and truthfully, they’re the only ones I have in my corner… literally.”
A bitter laugh slipped from my lips.
“They’ve been with me for a long time… longer than anybody else. They don’t like meeting new people, and theyreallyhatesharing me. Sometimes they get jealous when somebody takes up too much of my attention.” I paused. “Oh, but theyloveJace.”
My smile slowly returned.
“They’re very protective over me too… sometimes too protective. They comfort me. They know every thought, every secret, and every person who’s ever hurt me. They warn me when somebody is lying, acting suspicious, or knows something they shouldn’t.” I lowered my voice. “And once they decide somebody is a threat, they don’t stop talking until I do something about it.”
“I… I don’t know anything! And I’m not a threat!”
“They don’t believe you…” I let the silence stretch. “But I do.”
I spun around abruptly with a wide grin.
“Gotcha!”
Talia flinched so hard the restraints on her ankles rattled.
A laugh burst out of me as I pointed at her. “Oh, my God! You really believed I hear voices in my head?”
For several seconds, Talia only stared at me, her chest rising and falling rapidly.
“You… you were joking?”
“Obviously.” I rolled my eyes like she was the crazy one. “Girl, you should’ve seen your face!” I laughed.
Talia’s shoulders lowered, and she released a shaky breath that sounded almost like a laugh. Relief flickered across her face, but it didn’t erase the fear completely.
When me and Talia reunited, I confided in her about my time spent in Willowgate. She knew I was on medication and that I “supposedly” killed two people.
The jury is still out on that.
However, I never told her about the voices. That was one thing I chose to keep to myself.
Some secrets are too personal to share… especially when those secrets can hear you talking about them.
