Chapter 74. Alfred

Elaine’s eyes opened, still slightly blurry around the edges of her vision. As her eyes cleared, her sense of place returned. She sat, bound legs to a chair, and hands behind her back.

Her vision dimmed, then brightened with focus as she raised her head. Across from her was a large steel gray table. A balding man with stringy brown hair sat opposite her, spooning soup into his mouth. The steam from the soup vaporized into the large balls of sweat that streamed from his unibrow into the soup which he ate with glee.

She struggled to free her hands from behind her. In her struggles, the chair moved squeaking against the plain gray tiles beneath her feet.

“Nice. You are finally awake,” the man said.

“Who are you? Why am I here?” She looked around the room for some other clue to her whereabouts.

The room was spacious enough for two queen sized bed length wide. The wall, lit by a single bulb in the middle of the room, was the same drab gray as the tiles with