Chapter 228 Lisa: Rescue?

An odd scraping has me waking in the middle of the night, when even the faint light from the high-up window has disappeared.

The sounds are irregular, not at all patterned, which I've come to learn means that there's either a person or animal behind it.

I hope it isn't a rat.

Sitting up, I strain my ears, past the thudding of my heart against my ribs. More odd sounds echo around me. A soft scuffle comes from outside the wall where Marisol usually appears with my meager meals. My breath catches in my throat.

That mysterious note comes to mind.

Could it be? After all this time, has someone finally come for me?

Hope surges through my veins, making me dizzy. I press a hand to my chest, trying to calm my racing heart. Slow, deep breaths that expand my ribs and reduce my pulse rate to a level that doesn't have me woozy with the rush of blood.

My muscles are weak, despite the squat and other stretches I work on daily, trying to keep myself as in shape as I can.

How long have I been in this hellhole? Days? Weeks? It's impossible to tell without windows or any sense of time passing. I'm not even sure my meals arrive daily; sometimes, I think it's two or three times a day. Other times, it's as though a day or two passes between them.

The cycle of night and day here seems different, too. Which is an odd thing to think, but time just doesn't seem right.

The scraping sound comes again, closer this time. I take a tentative step forward, then another. My legs shake beneath me, threatening to give out at any moment, and it's only three steps before the manacles yank against my wrists and ankles, keeping me where I am.

I know these stones intimately, the boundaries of what little movement I have.

"Hello?" I whisper, my voice hoarse from disuse. "Is someone there?"

greets me. I hold my breath, straining to hear any response. Nothing. Maybe I imagined it all, my mind playing cruel tricks after so much isolation. Disappointment threatens to crush me, but I refuse to give in to despair.

muffled thud makes me jump. It's definitely coming from beyond the wall. My heart races even faster, hope and fear warring within me. What if it's not

through my mind, but I shove them away. I haven't seen him since he first brought me here, and I don't want to

can't think about that now. I

It's as if someone's trying to pry

out,

Still, nothing.

of getting louder makes me cringe. What if

to

To wait and see.

sure if I'm talking to God or whoever might be on the other side. "Please

as I sink to my knees. The cold seeps through my thin clothing, but I barely notice. I'm always cold, anyway. It's nothing

on that sound,

continue, sometimes loud, sometimes so faint I wonder if I'm imagining them. I dig my nails

loud click. I scramble to my feet, heart in my throat. The wall moves, sliding open just as it does when Marisol

doorway, backlit by dim light from the hallway beyond. I can't

voice whispers. Male, I

as the figure steps closer, his height shrinks dramatically. A trick of the light, perhaps? But by the time he's standing in front of me, dwarfed in a dark robe, he's perhaps

"Who are you?"

mind. Is your name Lisa

"Yes."

order for

I rattle the chains holding me to the ground. "I can't. I'm

shocked to see a weathered face and short, spikey white hair. He's old.

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