Chapter 46 After Six Months

Ava’s POV

How long had it been? Days? Weeks? Months? Time had lost all meaning in this hellish place. The darkness was absolute, a suffocating blanket that pressed in on me from all sides, erasing the edges of my reality.

The only indication that time was passing at all was the faint, muffled clink of the metal tray as food was slid through the slot in the door—once a day, or at least, I thought it was once a day. Even that was uncertain.

I sat in the corner of the cold, damp room, my back pressed against the rough concrete wall. My legs were pulled up to my chest, my arms wrapped around my knees as I tried to keep warm.

The thin, ragged dress I wore did little to protect me from the chill that seeped through the stone floor. My hair hung in limp, dirty strands around my face, a far cry from the carefully styled locks I once took pride in.

I couldn’t remember the last time I’d bathed. The smell of sweat and fear clung to me, mingling with the stale odor of the room, a smell I