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THREE MONTHS

AFTER SELWYN KANE APPEARED

Natasia

AUDIO LOG—ENTRY #101

My son’s last escape was two days ago. The one before that, five days ago.

The intervals between these disappearing acts are getting shorter, not longer. The amount of time it takes for me to locate him in the mountains is getting longer, not shorter.

I am loath to admit that I have had to resort to containment.

My only comfort is that when I find him, he returns willingly. When I ask him to go back inside the wards I’ve now cast around his room, he enters without a fight.

But I cannot ignore these facts:

First: If Selwyn wants to leave my home, he will find a way. It is only by his choice that he stays.

Second: The trails of blood that lead me to him are sometimes black and sometimes red… but they never belong to him.

Third: When my son was a child, I was more powerful than him in every way.

I am no longer certain that this is true.