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

and no one

no one came to shut

tears come harder now, my body

Lisa Enthralled (1)

myself small, trying to disappear. But there’s nowhere to hide, nowhere to go but the confines

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

whispers pierce the silence, dragging

tense, straining to hear more, to understand what’s happening beyond my cell. It’s only then that I realize the odd dripping sound, the one that had been

my head to ache. The whispers, too, become more distinct, though I can’t make out the words. The voices are low,

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to curl up and hide.

to go, nowhere to run, because I’m chained

scraping stops, and for a moment, there’s only silence. Heavy,

like stone against stone. My eyes widen as part of the wall slides into itself, revealing a dark passageway. A figure steps through, tall

The vampire from

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

voice like silk

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

My voice is tremulous, despite my efforts

Enthralled

that echoes off the walls and makes me flinch. “Oh, we’ll get to that,” he says, taking a step closer. “But first, let’s have a little chat,

movements are almost hypnotic, his steps slow and measured as he approaches. I can’t look away, can’t move, can’t breathe.

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

a pretty little thing, aren’t you?” he murmurs, reaching out to brush a strand of hair from my

comes out more like a plea.

to the end.

chuckles, his fingers trailing down my cheek, my jaw, my neck. “You’re not

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Lisa Enthralled (1)

and dangerous. “You’re mine now, and

I 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

breaks, hating the

widens, a flash of white teeth in the gloom. Two are