“Now that we’re all focused on class again, who can tell me what the controversial part of the Inquisition was?” Mr. Rieder asked. He scanned the room, searching for someone to answer his question. “Anyone?”

When I finally mustered the courage to glance at Conrad again, he was leaning back in his chair with his hands behind his head and his feet on the desk. He was acting like nothing strange had transpired between us at all, and he wasn’t even trying to pretend like he was paying attention to Mr. Rieder’s lesson. What a dick. Although when you were that attractive, I guess you could do whatever you wanted.

“Well, they tortured people in an attempt to coerce confessions or information out of them,” Conrad answered.

“Yes, yes, they did. Although it has been exaggerated as to how many cases actually involved torture, it’s true this form of punishment was used in some of the trials.”

A flash from one of my dreams leapt into my mind. A mangled body lay on its back, its arms twisted in an unnatural pose.  Instantly my stomach turned. A sharp metal spear was being heated over a fire. The end glowed orange. I watched as the spear was thrust into the stomach of the writhing soul. It sliced through the flesh like a knife through hot butter. My throat burned, and I could feel my breakfast begging to come back up. I placed my fingers on each temple, massaging lightly. Had touching Conrad sparked this glimpse of my nightmares to play before my eyes? Or was there some other power commanding my mind at will? I looked around, hoping no one noticed my uneasiness, but unfortunately, Conrad had. He surveyed me with curiosity. I shifted in my seat, not wanting to be seen by him or anyone else. Instead, I concentrated on Mr. Rieder, who was busy scrawling more notes across the smart board. It seemed to take all of my willpower to focus on his lesson, but I had to distract myself from the imagery of my dreams and Conrad sitting beside me.  No matter what horrible things plagued my consciousness, I needed to be normal. I had to be a normal girl.