Chapter 21: Witch Hunt

Shit, shit, shit. "I don't know how," I manage to squeeze out past the dizziness.

"You're safe. Imagine you're at your favorite place. Having your favorite food along with your friends."

An image pops in my head of having tres leches cake with lots of strawberries. Kiarr, Ben, Melanie and a few others from the Academy are with me. No, that's not right. I want to be with the humans.

"Brene! Concentrate-or you'll rip this building apart."

I squeeze my eyes shut, focusing on my Aunt Grace. How she raised me after my parents died even though her husband didn't want any kids and left her six months after I came along. How she never gave up on me. How she gave up everything she had, including her marriage, to see that I was taken care of. A rip sounds in my head and I scream, falling off the bed onto the floor. It feels like my skull has split into two pieces.