Tangled

Unshift 242

Unshift 242

242 Lisa: Waking in Comfort

LISA

Waking up in a bed is too comfortable.

My brain wants to wake, but my body wants to keep sleeping.

If this comfort is little more than an elaborate trap before I'm murdered, just take me away. At least I'll be going in bliss.

A sharp poke in my side jolts me from my half-asleep musings. I crack open an eye, squinting against the sudden brightness. A face swims into view, so close I can count every wrinkle etched into leathery skin.

"Up! Up, you lazy girl!"

The voice is shrill, grating against my eardrums. I blink,

40 focus on the owner of that

voice. It's a woman, impossibly small, with a nose so red it could guide Santa's sleigh.

I open my mouth to speak, but my tongue feels like sandpaper. Before I can form words, a stinging slap lands on my calf. The pain is sharp, unexpected, and I jerk away, nearly tumbling off

the bed.

"Ow! What the-"

"No time for your nonsense," the tiny woman interrupts, waving a hand in front of my face. Her fingers are gnarled, reminding me of tree roots. "You stink. Shower. Now"

I sit up, head spinning. The room tilts and sways around me. Where am I? How did I get here? The last thing I remember is... Darkness, Cold. A strange man who brought me out of my personal hell. The tiny woman's groan snaps me back to the present. "Look at this mess. Filthy! You've ruined

the sheets."

I glance down at the bed. The once-white linens are stained with dirt and... is that blood? My

of my wrists, raw and

No time to waste. She tugs at my arm

don't recognize-a simple white night dress

-so many questions-but they stick in my throat. There's something about her demeanor, gruff and no-nonsense, that makes me feel

that it almost feels

going to need some serious therapy, if this tiny person isn't

murder me.

Waking

open, revealing a bathroom. "In. Shower. Make it

shoves me inside and

My face is pale, eyes wide with confusion and fear. Dark circles underneath them speak of exhaustion I can feel in

fingers grow

God.

with some skin hanging off

Horrible.

the hell is happening?" I whisper to my

no answers. She looks

shower, eyeing it warily. Part of me wants to march over and slam

away the grime I

bruises and scrapes. Some look fresh, angry red against

victim, it wasn't technically

trying to escape my chains. That usually involved falling to the floor in various painful ways. And when it wasn't escape attempts, it was me trying to do basic stretches and exercises to keep up my muscle mass-hard to do with heavy chains weighing

surprised my wrists and ankles aren't

the small space. I step under the spray, whimpering as the hot water hits my battered skin. But the pain fades, replaced by a

over me with a sense of peace and cleanliness I haven't

ledge is the first thing I grab,

at my

if I could wash away the memories along with the

is pink and raw, but I feel more

a tangled mess. I'm not even sure it's possible to brush it out. Still, I take my time washing it with shampoo and conditioner, leaving in a layer of conditioner in

Waking in

out