TOB 71

CHAPTER SEVENTY – ONE

ROSE AMARA’S POV

A funny taste lingers at the back of my throat as I slowly open my eyes. My surroundings gradually come into focus. I'm lying on a dark floor resembling old, abandoned asphalt. A rotten smell, like a public toilet in a forgotten gas station, nearly causes me to gag.

I sit up, and the world starts spinning like it did this morning. The gray stone walls have some industrialized red numbers on them, but they're faded, washed away by the merciless hands of time. The few cracks invading the solid surface and a metal bed in the corner are the only things in sight. Its white sheets are yellowish and appear not to have been washed in an eternity.

How did I end up here? I don't remember anything after the bag was thrown over my head. Back then, my only thought was that I was dying and couldn't just die.

The sense of relief at being alive doesn’t hit me as strongly as it should. I might not be dead now, but that could change. Besides, it’s worse if they ta