Chapter 15

Abby

I didn’t know how long I had been there.

Hours.

A day.

Longer.

Time had stopped meaning anything after the first injection.

I remembered the forest in fragments.

Running.

A hand catching the back of my coat.

Silver snapping around my wrists.

The needle entering my neck.

Then being carried somewhere while trees moved above me in broken flashes.

After that, darkness.

Whenever I woke, I was in the same place.

Cold stone beneath my body.

Damp air.

A low ceiling I could barely make out when the lantern was nearby.

And pain.

My wrists were cuffed behind me.

Silver.

The metal burned constantly, but every movement made it worse. The skin beneath the cuffs felt raw and swollen. Dried blood had stiffened around the edges.

My ankles were tied.

Tape covered my mouth.

I lay still for several minutes, listening.

Nothing.

No footsteps.