se's

n a thick fog of damp concrete

ve my hands, but the zip ti

hair, sitting in what looked like a basement

irectly above me, the g

ke." Holde

a white doctor's coat over his tactical gear. The getup was grotes

re we?"

ing out instruments on a metal tray. Needles, IV tubing, scalpels. "He thinks you ran

my voice growing a fraction s

rned to me, his eyes bloodshot and unhinged. "A

" I corrected him, holding

He picked up a thick needle, the metal g

rt... it's failing. The stress from you att

g against the plastic ties. "She's playing you,

fusion. It's the only way to keep her strength up until I can source a compatible heart donor from

oor o

n wal

with a healthy color. She looked perfec

asked, taking a loud, c

lief. "You're eating. You're w

at me. She lit

to a frail whisper. She leaned against the doorframe, letting th

ning me. "Sit down, baby. I'm starting the

the corner. She sat down, flashing

against the chair. "She's playing you! She's

bbed my arm, roughly swabbing the

wled. "You lost the right to speak th

l," I whispered. "

itation, he plunged t

lood surged through the tubing, flowing at an alarmi

dyn asked fr

hell,"

husband isn't comin

filling the plastic bag. A deep chill set into my bones. M

den name was Bowers. My

e them the satisfacti

ee

izing days handcuf

ned three bags

s. I was severely dehydrated, surviving on mere sips of water an

that supposedly led somewhere. The saline solution was just dripping onto the floor behind her cha

id, bored. "Maybe drain ano

s eyes bloodshot. He hadn't slept, entirely consumed by his

said coldly. She stood up and sauntered over to me. She scrut

h like a Mafia Queen right now,

look like a cheap whor

e reached out and brutally jamme

p to my shoulder, a

she ordered. "She still has

hing but a puppet, a weapon she

d for a f

I was destined t

hon

yes, the way he had loo

u don't walk ou

didn't come. Maybe Holden was right. M

The pull started again. A co

there wa

de the room,

Like a body hit

ze. "What

yn said, but her voice tremble

, his hands v

dyn insisted. "Alp

en him and Eloise. It'

d. Then the sound o

a gun from the t

toward

reach it, the steel

off its hinges by C4. The room ins

indly into the

d from the gray mis