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.

I want to scream.

no one came to save

one came to shut me

harder now,

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small, trying to disappear. But there’s nowhere to hide, nowhere to go

in my mind, the questions swirl, dark and insidious. What do they want with me? Why go through the trouble of taking me, of keeping

whispers pierce the silence, dragging me

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

my gut tightening into a cramping pain as the scraping grows louder, closer. It’s a grating, unnatural noise that sets my teeth on edge and causes my head

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curl up and

there’s nowhere to go, nowhere to run, because I’m chained to the

only silence. Heavy, oppressive, making it hard to breathe.

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

him. The vampire

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

he purrs, his voice like silk

as my chains allow, despite the pain in my wrists, bleeding and swollen

voice is tremulous, despite my efforts

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sound that echoes off the walls and makes me flinch. “Oh, we’ll get to that,”

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

close enough that I can feel the chill emanating from his skin. Close enough that I can see the hunger in his eyes, the way they seem to darken as they roam over my face,

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

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

the

trailing down my cheek, my jaw, my neck.

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voice low and dangerous. “You’re mine now, and I’ll do whatever I please

making it hard to breathe. 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 ahead, conjuring up images of pain and blood and violation,

the tears

of white teeth in the gloom. Two are long and sharp, shooting