chapter 79

My heart raced as I struggled against the ropes binding my wrists. Every breath I took felt like fire, burning in my chest as the panic threatened to choke me. The darkness in the room pressed down on me, thick and suffocating. The only light came from the flickering bulb hanging overhead, casting long, eerie shadows on the concrete walls.

How long had it been? Days? Hours? I lost track after the second time they hit me. My cheek was still swollen from the last blow, but I refused to cry. I wouldn’t give them that power over me. Not when I still had hope. “Kurtis is coming. He’ll find me.”

But the doubt crept in, gnawing at the edges of my mind. What if he didn’t get the message? What if he never found me?

I shook my head, trying to clear the fog of fear. I couldn’t think like that. Not now.

The sound of footsteps echoed from the hallway, slow and deliberate. My pulse quickened as the door creaked open. The man who had taken me stepped in, his face hidden in the shadows. He looked at