Chapter 101 Tortured Love


    While I slept, I had a strange dream.


    I dreamed that I was walking through the forest just outside of campus. I recognized where I was, and I


    knew the path well as I walked. Up ahead, I could make out the clearing where I hadst kissed Justin


    on the night that I discovered that he was a rogue.


    It was nighttime, and the moon was full. The air was perfectly still and warm.


    As I stepped into the clearing, however, I knew that I wasn’t alone. Across the clearing, moving in


    unison with me, was arge wolf with red fur and a cream-colored streak across its face.


    I stopped in the middle of the clearing. The wolf stopped in front of me. I reached out to touch it…


    But then, I woke up.


    I wasn’t in the forest; I was back in my room. When I tried to move, I realized that the restraints were


    around my wrists and ankles again.


    “Good morning,” a familiar voice said from beside me. I looked over to see Edward sitting on his stool


    next to me with a smile on his face. “Which Nina am I talking to today?”


    “Good Nina,” I replied, remembering what had happened earlier in the closet. Evil Nina had taken over


    for a bit, but Edward saved me, and now I was in control again.


    Edward’s smile widened. “That’s good to hear.” He paused, reaching over to the table next to him and


    picking up a cup. “I’m going to start giving you some new medicine,” he said. “It’ll taste a little funny, but


    it’ll help make sure that Evil Nina doesn’te back again. We wouldn’t want that to happen, would


    we?”


    I shook my head. Edward, still smiling from ear to ear, leaned forward. He lifted my head with one


    hand, then held the cup to my lips with the other. I drank. It did taste funny — a little bitter — but I drank


    all of it, because I didn’t want to lose control to Evil Nina again. I wanted to get better so that I could go


    home to my family, just like Justin.


    “There,” Edward said, setting the cup down. Next, he unbuckled the restraints around my wrists and


    ankles, and helped me sit up. “I’m not going to keep you restrained now that you’ve taken your


    medicine. But you have to promise to take your medicine every time I give it to you, otherwise I will


    have to restrain you again. Okay?”


    I nodded.


    “Good. Now, I’m going to take care of the bad man who came to steal you away. You might hear some


    scary noises, but I promise that they’re just the sounds of him resisting his treatment, just like you did at


    first.” He patted me on the head like a dog, then headed toward the door. “I’ll be backter to give you


    more medicine,” he said, then disappeared through the door.


    Not long after Edward left, the medicine must have begun to kick in, because I started to feel a tingling


    in my body. I stood up and crossed over to the desk in the corner to draw, but realized then that


    Edward had taken away my drawing supplies.


    “Hm,” I said out loud to myself. “I guess I’m not allowed to draw anymore.”


    “He’s a liar.”


    I jumped, whirling around to search for the source of the disembodied female voice that echoed in my


    head — but there was no one there. I shook my head and walked over to the other side of the room.


    “Edward is not your savior. He’s brainwashing you. He’s using hypnotic abilities to make you his


    minion.”


    “That’s not true,” I replied without thinking. “Edward is really nice, and when I’m better, I’ll get to go


    home.”


    “Nina, if none of your experiences over the past four years are real and Enzo never existed, then why


    did Enzoe to save you?”


    I frowned, then pped my hands over my ears and began to repeat my mantra under my breath. This


    voice was clearly just another one of my hallucinations… If I just repeated my mantra enough, I could


    make it go away.


    “My name is Nina Harper…”


    “Your name is Nina Harper, and you are a student at Mountainview University.”


    I mped my hands down harder on my ears and scrunched my eyes shut. “…I am a patient at


    Mountainview Psychiatric Facility.”


    “You are not sick, and Edward will not fix you.”


    I shook my head and began to pace. “No,” I said. “You’re not real. Get out of my head.”


    “I am real, Nina,” the voice replied. “I’m your wolf, and my name is Cora. Werewolves are real; Edward


    has been lying to you.”


    Still shaking my head vigorously, Iid down on my bed in a fetal position and began to rock back and


    forth.


    “My name is Nina Harper… I’m a student… No! I’m a patient at Mountainview Psychiatric Facility… I’m


    sick…”


    “Nina, please listen to me.”


    “Shut up!” I shouted. I sat up and pounded my fists against the side of my head, as if doing so would


    knock the voice out of me and make it go away. “You’re not real! Stop talking to me!”


    Just then, my thoughts were broken by the sound of pained gruntsing from next door. It sounded


    as though someone was being beaten. With each sound of something hitting flesh, I would hear


    another strained grunt. They only got louder with each repetition.


    “See?” I said out loud, standing and walking slowly toward the wall. “Edward is fixing the bad man who


    tried to steal me away. He’s protecting me.”


    The voice didn’t respond.


    “Edward is protecting me…” As I slowly walked closer, repeating those words quietly to myself, I began


    to realize that my voice was quivering. I stopped in front of the wall and slowly held my shaking hands


    out, pressing my palms against the concrete, and then leaned forward until my ear was pressed up


    against the wall.


    There were muffled voices on the other side. I couldn’t make out exactly what they were saying, but I


    recognized Edward’s voice, and…


    Enzo’s voice.


    There was another sound of something hitting flesh, followed by another pained grunt, this time far


    louder than all of the rest. I flinched and jumped back, my eyes wide.


    It wasn’t until I felt something wet on my face and lifted my fingers to touch my cheek, pulling them


    away and looking at them curiously, that I realized I was crying.


    A sob escaped my throat. I ran back to my bed and covered my ears again, this time covering them


    against the sound of Edward beating Enzo and not from the sound of the strange voice in my head. IRêAdt??St chapters at Novel(D)ra/ma.Org Only


    wasn’t sure how long I was there, but eventually, I must have fallen asleep because I was awoken


    sometimeter by the feeling of someone shaking my shoulder.


    When I opened my eyes, I looked up to see Edward standing over me. I scrambled backwards on the


    bed, but he was too quick; he grabbed me by the neck and held a cup up to my lips.


    “Open your mouth,” he said. When I didn’t do it immediately, he rolled his eyes and forced my mouth


    open with his hand before pouring the bitter-tasting drink down my throat. I sputtered and choked on it,


    coughing up some of it onto the front of my hospital gown, but the majority of it made its way down my


    throat.


    “I’m only doing this to protect you,” he said, tossing the cup aside and pushing me down on the bed. I


    squirmed, confused, as he buckled the restraints again. Then, he left me alone once more.


    “Wait! I’ll be good!” I called after him, but he didn’t listen. I watched, struggling against the leather


    straps as he punched a number into the keypad on my door, then disappeared through it. Another sob


    caught in my throat.


    An indistinguishable amount of time passed. The straps were tight around my wrists, burning my skin if


    I moved too much. The medicine made me drift in and out of consciousness, but each time it did, I felt


    myself slipping back into that strange dream of the wolf in the forest…


    And each time I woke, I smelled something tantalizingly sweet drawing me toward the room next door