Chapter 23
Cassandra
Despite my best efforts to slow my panicked breaths, it seems I passed out after all.
Because when I awoke, head in a small puddle of blood from where it must’ve hit the concrete floor on the way down, the same blurry grey walls squeezing closed in suffocating proximity, it was just as bad as I had feared.
All the terror came pouring into my consciousness all over again like some cruel rebound, my body still reeling from the last attack.
An artificial silence chokes the room, allowing for no distractions to deter the memories from returning once more.
Please, Joe, I’ll do anything. Please let me out.
A bitter laugh breaks through the slots of wood.
A stamp, his foot striking the door. I flinch back to the shadows.
Searching the room for something, anything that breaks up the empty grey expanse, I catch the glint of a nail lodged in the side of the wall.
It’s crooked.
I start to wonder if there are any other nails dug into these walls, but the second my gaze deviates from the target, my breaths gain speed. The walls return to their crushing blur, crawling towards me.
I snap back to the nail.
A unique form of entrapment overtakes my senses while more tears drip down my cheeks.
Using the sleeve of my dress to smear the blood oozing from my temple, I keep my eyes wide and clear, locked on my nail. My very still, immobile nail that will not close in on me.
I feel like I’m dying.
Its bright silver hue shines against the gray.
I’ll never make it out alive.
But it’s not moving. I am sure of it.
I can barely breathe.
Do not blink.