The dream again, worse than before. More vivid, the sounds, the smell of blood, her blood on his hands. Her face, pressed into the hard wooden surface, cut and bleeding, stung by tears. The whipsaw pain of the cane rod against her thighs.
You are mine, Ann. You can't get away from me- don't even try. I own you. You're mine.
Please. Please don't. Please stop.
"Stop!! Stop touching me!!" She lurched upright in her bed, clutching the blankets to her chest to ward off the reaching hands that suddenly weren't there. She stared around her wildly, searching for him, convinced he was in the room with her. As the dream slowly faded, she pushed a strand of sweaty auburn hair out of her dark shadowed eyes. She threw the covers away in a violent motion, slapping her bare feet onto the cold stone wooden floor of her bedroom.
She padded unsteadily to the bathroom, flicked the lightswitch on, and turned on the cold water tap. As she waited for the basin to fill, she gazed at her reflection in the silvery mirror. A thin, pale girl stared back at her through bruised green eyes still filled with shock and tears. She touched the glass, unable to recognize herself.
"My name is Ann. Ann Llewellyn-Pale. I am at home. I am safe, my parents are home, and nothing can happen to me here." She repeated this mantra several times, willing her still uneven breathing settle into a normal pattern. She splashed icy water on her face, dried off with the hewn of her gown, and turned to leave the room. At the door, she paused to look in the mirror once more before switching off the light.
"Tomorrow everything will be different, Ann. Tomorrow, you go to Hogwarts."