She opened her eyes to stare at a vengeful vision grabbing Giulio by his arm, the one holding the belt he had been repeatedly hitting her with. A mountain of a man, impossibly large and tall, tossed Giulio against the wall behind her bed. Then the man turned toward her and spoke. “Martina, are you okay?” She couldn’t answer. For a moment, she thought she heard the distinct noise of flapping wings, as if a bird had entered the room from one of the windows. An image of black feathers passed through her thoughts, and a memory from a recent dream came back. She blinked, and the image was gone. The giant gone too. She was hallucinating. “Martina, please say something.” Samuel hunched over her, his face worried and his hands gently caressing her arms. He took one of the thin wool blankets she kept at the foot of her bed and laid it over her. “Talk to me.” She started shivering. “I’m okay.”
