Lydia's Point Of View
I stayed on the floor long after the door shut.
The silence wrapped around me and pressed into my ears until it felt heavy. My chest rose and fell too fast, each breath scraping against my throat. I tasted iron every time I swallowed. When I lifted my hand to my forehead, my fingers came away red. I stared at the blood on my skin as if it belonged to someone else.
"That bitch," I muttered, my voice shaking despite my effort to steady it.
My palm slammed against the floor. The sharp crack echoed through the empty room and came back to me, small and humiliating.
"How dare she hit me?"
The sting on my cheek pulsed with each heartbeat. My scalp burned where Seraphina had dragged me by the hair. When I tried to push myself up, my arm trembled under my weight. For a second, I almost sank back down.
I clenched my jaw and forced myself upright.
I refused to stay down.
