Tangled

149 Lisa: Enthralled (I)

LISA

When moonlight fades and the sun rises, I can see my cell with more clarity.

Rust clings to my wrists and ankles, the metal biting into my skin with every trembling movement. Chains rattle against stone, a sound that mocks my rising panic. No matter how I strain and yank, they hold fast, ignoring the blood that streams down my arms when my skin breaks under the pressure.

This cell, this prison, is a nightmare made manifest. Cold, damp air seeps into my bones, and the stench of decay fills my nostrils. No comfort of a bed greets me, only the unforgiving hardness of the floor beneath my body.

A single, rotting bucket sits in the far corner, a cruel

taunt of basic needs denied.

My eyes dart around, desperate for some sign of escape, but the walls offer no salvation. Rough–hewn stone and brick, marred by the telltale stains of suffering, mock my desperation. Those dark splatters,

149 Lisa: Enthralled (1)

rust–brown and eerie in the dim light filtering through the tiny window above, speak of horrors I can’t begin to imagine.

But I don’t need to imagine, do I? I’m living it now.

Why? The question pounds in my head. Why me? What does my captor want?

I grasp at my memories, trying to make sense of the jumbled pieces. The party, the laughter, the punch that made my head swim. Bren. The vampire.

But nothing else.

Tears sting my eyes, hot and bitter as they slip down. my cheeks.

I want to scream, to yell until my voice gives out, but some instinct warns me against it. Don’t let them know you’re awake. Don’t give them a reason to come.

It’s been peaceful so far, but that can’t last forever. S~ᴇaʀᴄh the FɪndNøvel.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

how I want

and no one came to save me.

one came to

tears come harder now, my body shaking with

Enthralled

on myself as much as the chains. allow, trying to make myself small, trying to disappear. But there’s nowhere

me, of keeping me alive? The possible answers terrify me, each more gruesome than the last. Ransom,

silence, dragging

what’s happening beyond my cell. It’s only then that I realize the odd dripping sound,

that sets my teeth on edge and causes my head to ache. The whispers, too, become more distinct, though I can’t make out the words. The voices are

16:14 ●

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to curl up and

to run, because I’m

and for a moment, there’s only silence. Heavy, oppressive, making it hard to

eyes widen as part of the wall slides into itself,

vampire from the

a predatory light. His lips curve into a smile, but there’s no warmth in it. Only a cruel

he purrs, his voice like

allow, despite the pain in my wrists, bleeding and swollen from many attempts to get out of

voice is tremulous, despite my efforts to keep it steady.

Lisa Enthralled

“Oh, we’ll get to that,” he says, taking a step closer. “But first,

slow and measured as he approaches. I can’t look away, can’t move, can’t

enough that I can feel the chill emanating from his skin. Close enough that I can see the hunger in his eyes,

hair from my face. His touch is like ice, and I jerk my face

I whisper, but it comes out more like a plea. Not the demand I wish

to the

jaw, my neck. “You’re not in a position

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Lisa Enthralled

and dangerous. “You’re mine

don’t want to imagine what he means by that, don’t want to think about the horrors that await me. But my mind races ahead, conjuring up images of pain and blood and violation, each

whisper, hating the way my voice breaks, hating the tears that sting my eyes. “Please, just let me

widens, a flash of white teeth in the gloom. Two are long and sharp, shooting pure terror