Chapter 61

“Brianna?” A hissed whisper sounded from the dark, making me jump. “Bri?”

“Mum!” Surprise and relief overwhelmed me as I finally recognised the voice calling my name. I moved towards the dim candlelight only to realise that I couldn’t quite reach the source. My path was cut off by heavy metal bars. When I lifted my hands to give them a shake, I found that they were entirely unmovable, my fingers finding small carvings in the cold metal.

“Mum? Where are you? Where are we?” I questioned, panic rising like a tide inside of me.

“Try to calm yourself, sweetheart,” my mum’s voice sounded through the darkness, and I suddenly felt as though she was close to me. Leaning against the dank stone wall where the metal bars joined the bricks, I felt as though I could sense her doing the same on the other side.

A flicker of movement from the corner of my eye made me look up, and I found a hand hovering before me as if she had squeezed her arm through the bars of her own cell.