I feel the pins pricking my skin. What would it feel like to get a shock?

“Well?” Claus presses the weapon deeper into my skin. “You really like her, don’t you?”

Lucas raises his hand as a sign for him to stop. “Okay, okay. I’ll read it.”

Today I went back to where I used to live.

I had to see them one more time.

Kate, Fender, and Lucas were sitting in the schoolyard, in our usual place.

There was another girl with them.

A blond girl, like me.

A girl with a flawless face, like I once had.

I have no idea who she is.

Lucas said something funny. Fender laughed. Kate was kind of clinging to him.

As I stood there watching, it suddenly hit me.

They’ve moved on without me.

While I’m just going backward.

I feel the pain in every word that Lucas reads out. I don’t dare look at Fender.

Claus is sitting on the edge of the bed, with his back to me. The rope is getting looser and looser. Any minute now, my left hand will be free too.

Claus must have spotted me, because he came after me. Close to the station, he caught up with me and grabbed hold of my wrist.

“Isolde?” He was out of breath from running. “Is it really you?”

I could have denied it, but my identity is written ten times all over my face. Even with operation after operation I’ll still look like this.

“What are you doing here? Ah, it doesn’t matter, you’re here now.”

He held out his hand and took my sunglasses off my face.

He stared at my scars and then stroked them with his index finger. He kept stroking the biggest scar in particular, the one on my forehead.

I felt tears burning in my eyes.

“Don’t do that,” I said.

“Why not?”

“You disgust me.”

Claus sneered at me.

All the contempt in the world was in that one look.

“I disgust you? Think yourself lucky that anyone wants to touch you at all.”

Fender

I don’t even think about it.

With a yell of rage, I throw myself upon Claus, hitting him wherever I can. We roll onto the floor, right next to the bed.

“How could you dare to say that to her?” I thump him in the ribs.

Claus holds the stun gun to my shoulder. “Want some more?”

I’m no match for that thing, no matter how much I want to fight. I lower my fists and roll off Claus.

“You just don’t get it,” I pant. “She meant everything to me. She still does! What happened to her destroys me every day.”

I forget that Linnea, Kate, and Lucas can hear everything.