Jennie and Margaret and Nancy ran into the room not long after. They were shouting. I couldn't imagine why.

John would not wake up and get out of my way. Jennie, Margaret, and Nancy came over to me just as I was creeping over him, and I thought they were going to move him for me. I almost asked them to move the bed while they were at it, but I quickly realized that they were trying to move me. They grabbed me, so I screamed, but they wouldn't let go.

I kicked and scratched and fought my way out of their grasps again and again, but they kept grabbing at me, pulling me towards them. Once, I kicked Margaret and she screamed and fell to the floor. I smiled. I was winning.

Even so, I continued to scream. I screamed until my throat was raw.

The noise must've woken John because he, too, began to grab at me. They were trying to get me away from the wall. I pushed towards it, aiming to get my shoulder back into the smooch so I could continue my creeping. They simply wouldn't let me.

John, then, shouted at Jennie, but I couldn't hear what he said over my screaming. Jennie ran out of the room.

Margaret was starting to get up, but only John and Nancy were pulling at me at that moment, so I managed to get my shoulder into the smooch and began creeping again, though I had to keep shoving them away.

Everything was going fine until I ran into that stupid bed.

I was climbing up onto it when Jennie ran back in and handed a cloth to John. He grabbed me from behind as I was creeping on the mattress, choking me as he pulled me back and put the cloth over my face.

He was trying to kill me.

I fought for my life, naturally – clawing at him, kicking and screaming again. I think I broke the skin when I scratched at his arms. I thrashed and thrashed until I fell off the bed and he lost his grip on me. Jennie, Margaret, and Nancy were on the other side of the room. They'd stood back as John tried to kill me, but they started to come towards me again. They looked absolutely horrified. John was reaching for me, then, too, and I realized that I had no other option.

They trapped me in the wall – John and Jennie and Jane – where was Jane? — but they couldn't follow me there. I tore off the bars, but they still couldn't follow me. I knew it. I was sure of it.

I turned and ran at the wall as fast as I possibly could. They reached for me – John's hand even brushed my arm – but they could not catch me. I was too fast.

As I passed into the wall, it hurt for a moment, of course, but then it was all black. I couldn't see anything until I turned around and looked out into the room. It was strange seeing it without the bars in the way, but of course I'd torn them off.

John, Jennie, Margaret, and Nancy were all standing there. John was still holding the cloth. I could see them, but they couldn't see me. I was the only one who could see someone when they were in the wall.

"How did she find out?" John asked angrily.

No one answered him.

Then, he asked, "How did she get out?"

Again, no one answered. I smiled because I knew both the answers, but I would never tell him. Not as long as I lived.

He went quiet for a long time, still angry, then said, "Put the wallpaper back up," and left.

My smiled dropped. They were going to trap me back in. I couldn't — I wouldn't — be trapped again. I refused.

Jennie, Margaret, and Nancy left the room to get something to put the wallpaper up with, so I seized my opportunity and came back out of the wall. I was so tired from all that had happened that all I could do was fall into that awful bed and sleep.

When I woke up, everyone was acting as if they hadn't made an attempt on my life. John spoke to me in a very gentle voice, almost as if he were afraid of me, and told me that he was taking me somewhere else to get better. Somewhere away from the wallpaper and the horrible bed and the tattered, awful nursery. He said it would help me get better.

He also said that in this new place I wouldn't have to rest so much. And I could write all I wanted to – he was even getting me a new journal and pen to write with – and I could have any family and friends over that I wanted.

I played his game. I pretended nothing happened, too. I went willingly to the new place. There was no wallpaper there, so he couldn't trap me back in, and I would lock my door at night so he couldn't try to kill me again.

I am here now, and it is day, and I am writing. My door is open, and Jennie or John or someone else will walk by often and look in on me. Probably making sure I won't try to escape this place. I don't think I want to, anyway.

Henry and Julia are coming to visit tomorrow. I think it's making John nervous. I don't know why.

I still haven't found Jane. I think she's at the old house, looking for me. But she'll come back. I'll find her again. I know it.

—————

"How did she get these?" John asked Jennie, holding up paper and a pen. They were Jane's. She'd been writing, though he'd specifically told her not to.

Jennie was at a loss. "I have no idea, but I'm almost glad she found them. Now we know what's wrong with her."

"I suppose so," John replied. He was thinking, so he went quiet for a long moment. Finally, he said, "I'm going to change her treatment and send her somewhere else. If there's wallpaper there, we'll have someone rip it all down. And have someone notify Henry – don't go into detail, just general things. I'll have to meet with him in person to discuss everything."

"Yes, sir," Jennie said, going off to do what he'd asked and leaving him alone.

He was nervous about telling Henry. He'd paid him a large sum of money to help Jane, and then he did just the opposite. But he was going to fix it now. The baby would have her mother soon. He'd learned from his mistakes. He was going to do everything he could.