Red raised her hand casually and gave a small shake of her head.
"You poor, innocent woman," she said, almost sounding sad. "I actually feel a little sorry for you."
Then she shrugged.
"But a job is a job."
In that instant, my mother's body locked in place. Her muscles froze, her feet rooted to the ground.
And I was pulled from her arms.
Lifted by an invisible force, I floated toward Miss Red, helpless.
She caught me gently, cradling me like a mother would.
I stared at my real mother.
Her eyes were wide with terror. She trembled as she struggled against the invisible force binding her, trying with everything she had to move, just to take one step closer to me.
But she couldn't.
Red kept talking, her voice calm and casual, like we were just having a conversation.
