**BELLA**
Time does not move properly here, it stretches and warps in ways that make it hard to tell how long I have been awake and how long I have been fading in and out of something that is not sleep so much as enforced numbness. The wolfsbane still sits heavy in my system, dulling everything it touches, and every breath feels like it has to push past resistance before it reaches my lungs. The silver chain around my ankle is a constant, burning reminder that my body is not my own right now, its weight dragging against my skin even when I lie perfectly still.
I force myself to sit up anyway.
The movement costs me more than it should, my vision swimming as I swing my legs over the side of the bed and plant my feet on the warped wooden floor, and I have to pause there with my hands brace
