Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 89934 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 450(@200wpm)___ 360(@250wpm)___ 300(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89934 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 450(@200wpm)___ 360(@250wpm)___ 300(@300wpm)
The fog began to clear, and Brenna realized she was in trouble. She screamed for him to release her. With all her might, she pounded his back and kicked her legs wildly, but it did no good. He carried her into the building and down a dark hallway, ignoring her screams the entire time.
Her voice cracked, and her throat ached, but she didn’t stop shouting for anyone to help her.
Blood rushed to her head, making it hard to focus on her surroundings. Toes passed through her limited field of vision, so she knew other people were around, but no one seemed to care about the upside-down woman hollering her head off.
She reached out, trying to grasp onto someone or something that could help, but she only managed to scrape her knuckles bloody on the wall.
The terrain changed. It took a moment for her muddled brain to realize they were walking down a long, dark staircase. With each step, the world grew gloomier and more rustic. Where the hell were they going? A goddamn cave?
After only a few steps, Brenna couldn’t see anything. She stopped thrashing and breathed, trying to conserve energy and let her vision adjust. Struggling proved useless, so she needed to be smart and think of a different strategy. Save the fight for when it had a chance of success.
The brute, Bolt, Oliver had called him, stopped walking.
Brenna held her breath as the sound of jangling keys broke the silence. Her captor stepped through a door and tossed her on the floor. She hit it hard, crying out as her bones crunched and bruises formed. Pain shot through her hip and back, but she scrambled as far into the space as she could. When she hit a wall, she plastered herself to it and prepared to fight if necessary. Everything hurt, but she forced herself to concentrate on her surroundings, not her battered body.
Bolt shook his head, laughing. “You’re gonna be a fun one to break,” he said in the most ominous threat possible. Her insides quivered, and her stomach roiled from fear and dangling upside down for so long.
The door slammed shut with the distinct click of a deadbolt ringing louder than a gunshot.
Brenna’s breath came so fast she had to be hyperventilating, yet she couldn’t control it. Fear clawed at her like an undead creature trying to pull her down to hell.
Lock wouldn’t get the chance to kill her for going behind his back. She had a terrifying feeling someone might take care of that for him.
Only they’d do it for real.
Her fingers and toes began to tingle. The sensation spread along her arms and legs. Her rapid breaths became strained and wheezy. Tears streaked down her cheeks, and she gagged, choking on air.
“Shh. Hey, breathe with me.” The soft woman’s voice made her jump and scoot along the wall away from the speaker.
“W-who’s there?”
Movement from the opposite corner of the small, dark room had her straining to see. A woman crawled into view and sat directly under the dim lightbulb hanging from the rocky ceiling. She didn’t attempt to stand but stayed low on the ground at Brenna’s eye level.
“We’ll get to that. Just concentrate on slowing your breathing.”
She did, following the young woman’s drawn-out inhales and exhales. After a few moments, the pins and needles subsided, and she began to breathe at a normal rate. “T-thank you.”
“My name’s Kelsie.”
“I’m Brenna. Um…” Brenna shook her head. It felt like her brain cells wouldn’t line up to function properly, and she needed to jostle them back into place. “I’m sorry, it’s hard to think right now.”
“Did they drug you?”
She frowned. “No. No, I don’t think so. I’m just overwhelmed and terrified.” She didn’t recall a prick to her skin as she’d been hauled there like a sack of flour, and she certainly hadn’t had anything to eat or drink. “You?”
The woman nodded. “Yeah. The last thing I remember was meeting a date at Stray. He ordered me a drink from the bar, and I woke up here.”
“A date?” Bile rose in her throat until she had to press a hand to her lips to keep from hurling.
“Yeah. This guy I met at the gym.” Kelsie’s huff of laughter held a sad bitterness. “He seemed so sweet and just… normal,” she whispered as her voice broke.
“W-what was his name?”
Please don’t say it. Please don’t say it.
“Oliver.”
“Oh God.” Brenna drew up her knees and buried her face against them. Hot tears flowed from her eyes. The club had mentioned something about human trafficking, but she’d brushed it off, assuming Oliver could never be involved in something so heinous. “He’s my ex-fiancé and the reason I’m here too.”
Kelsie stayed quiet. What could she say? Words wouldn’t make this any better.
“How long have you been here?” she eventually choked out.
“Uh…” Kelsie picked at a hole in her ratty sweatpants. “It’s a little hard to tell. It’s always dark in here. Somewhere around a week, I think.”