Silenced in the Shadows

Aria

The house was too quiet. I stood at the washbasin in my room, splashing cold water over my face for the second time in ten minutes, and stared at my reflection in the mirror while droplets slid from my chin to my throat.

I looked awful. Pale. Tired. Uneasy in a way I couldn’t seem to shake. I reached for the towel hanging beside the basin and pressed it to my face harder than necessary, as if