I wake up panicked, I wake up feeling like I need to run. I’m not sure from what… my dreams all fade from me. I try to turn over and everything explodes into pain. I cry out, but nobody comes to help me… I’m freezing, but I’m constricted, I’m in so much pain… My legs are tangled, my chest is tight, it’s being squeezed mercilessly, and my head… my head aches. I’ve never had migraines, I wouldn’t know how that feels… but it feels like there’s a textbook sitting on my head, digging itself into my skull.

Whimpering, I reach out tentatively. My chest kills me, edges digging into me every time I move. I want to open my eyes… but I just can’t. I know I was in that cage… I know there was… that woman. That beautiful lady, the one who asked me to open my eyes. I don’t know what I saw… but I know that I was strapped into a chair… and there was a needle…

Crying out, I clutch my arm to my chest, disregarding the pain in my side. My elbow throbs, and I try desperately to ignore it… but the more it throbs, the more I feel the needle going in again…

“NO! No… no please…” I know that I’m digging my nails into my wrist, I know that my face is contorted into that awful shape it makes whenever I think about… that. I know my elbow is trying to get my attention harder than ever, but I can’t let it… I can’t…

Wren, It’ll be okay. It’s just for school, you’ve only got to get one, and it’ll be over. That’s it, for all of middle school! All 3 years, you hear me? Lily… helped me so much last time. Last time I had to think about this. Here, I’ll hold your hand. You don’t have to be afraid, I’m here. I’m not gonna break, hold as tight as you need to. She’s so… bright. God I hope she’s not here… I don’t want her to get hurt… she helped me so much, she doesn’t deserve to have this happen to her…

I manage to open my eyes. I opened them once… whenever that was. It’s hard to keep them open… they really want to close. When I rub my eyes I feel my hands rough, dry palms. It hurts, but I need to be able to see. I don’t want to be blind any longer than I have to be. It’s colder than I feel it should be, considering it’s only Autumn. The trees outside my stupid silver tree cage are still covered in snow, the sky is still the most gorgeous shade of wintry sky. My bed is still covered in silver and white sheets. So I suppose nothing’s changed but me.

I put my hand on my forehead, feeling how much colder my palm is. But the pain only increases. My hair’s messed up, so I move it… and knock against something. I can’t hold in a yelp, now it hurts even more than before. Putting my hands on my head, I realize just how much I’ve changed. The source of the ache comes from two things jutting out of my head. They come to points in the front and they go up in the back… and they hurt. I try not to brush my hands against them too much, because every pressure sends a spike of pain all the way down to the base of my neck.

I try to bend my neck, but they’re too heavy for me. I feel like a newborn, holding onto my own neck to try to look straight again. I would lay down but… first I have to get rid of this nuisance. I reach behind me, my elbow knocking my… horns I suppose. I bite my lip and leave the pain, stretching my fingers for the strings. Managing to get them just barely with the tips of my fingers, I pull frantically, knocking my elbow against my horn once more. This time I cry out and feel tears come to my eyes, and I lose the strings.

“Damnit!” I yell. “How the hell am I supposed to get this damn thing off? I twist my arm the other way, creeping my fingers up my back. I tug them, but they don’t get any longer. The damn things are in a knot, and I’ve got no idea how to loosen it!

Breathing heavily and feeling two, no, three times more uncomfortable than before, I place my hands on my neck once again. My hands are freezing, and I almost cringe away, but I know I need to support myself. I lower myself onto the pillow, hoping I’m far down enough that I won’t hit my horns on the head board. I lay down stewing, dwelling on the pain. I know it doesn’t help, but that’s all there seems to be to focus on.

Stupid corset, digging into my side. Stupid crazy not human people, injecting me- ugh… no no no don’t think about that ugh no owwwww…. Ow god damnit I said don’t think about it! I clutch my elbow, digging my nails into the outside. The corset. Yup, the corset is still there, it still hurts… and I don’t know how to get it off. How the heck would anyone get it OFF? Do people just always have maids? Is there some technique that I don’t know about cause I don’t live in this stupid time period replica?

The trees above me sparkle, the light shifting. A cloud must’ve gone over the sun, because the shine from the billions of tiny silver leaves suddenly disappears. I almost like it better this way… It’s more calm. The silver is dulled and the trees look more real somehow. But now that the sun’s gone, the chill comes back with a vengeance. My corset is warm in that it makes me sweat trying to take it off, not warm in actual layers and thickness. Now I just feel gross and cold and slightly warm in odd places.

I don’t know what to do… there seems to be nothing I can do. The sun comes out from behind the cloud, and I close my eyes, trying to get the shine out of my vision. I don’t want to be here...