NEW ~ SALE ~ FR*EE in KU

I had the brightest of futures.
And the one in front of me was vivid.
I carved out my own place in the world.
But I wasn’t always proud of what I did.

EXCERPT

“Wake up, Lizzy.” A voice—the same voice from the nightmare in my head was present the instant I opened my eyes.
Except it wasn’t a nightmare. It was real. The man with the gravely voice was speaking to me, and he was directly in front of me, but the room was dark so I couldn’t see his face—or maybe my vision was just still blurry. I tried to shake the cobwebs out of my head as I sat up. My vision started to focus finally, but my head was throbbing so hard that it was hard to do anything but squint. The room was definitely dark, except for a small dim light bulb hanging over my head. There were bars in front of me—bars on top of me. I was in—a cage?
“Why are you doing this?” My throat was parched and my words scraped against the dryness as I spoke.
“Because, sweet Lizzy. You’ve been a very bad girl, haven’t you?” He stepped closer.
“I don’t know—what you’re talking about.” I cleared my throat and tried to coat it with my saliva so that it didn’t hurt to speak.
“Pretending to be innocent isn’t going to get you out of this cage.” He tilted his head and leaned close enough for me to see his face. “Only the truth can set you free—the truth and your penance.”
“Who are you? Why are you doing this?” I found the strength to grab the bars in front of me. “Please let me go. I won’t tell anyone that you took me—I swear. I just want to go home.”
The man in front of me had dark colored eyes—almost like onyxes set in his skull. His skin was tanned, his hair was dark brown, and it was a little unkempt. I assumed the ski mask had something to do with that. He was a large, broad shouldered man—not one that I could have taken in a fight, even if he hadn’t used something to knock me out when he grabbed me. He wasn’t the one that tried to talk to me when the van approached, but their features were similar enough for them to be related.
“Lots of people want to go home.” He nodded slowly. “They want to enjoy a warm fireplace, a home-cooked meal—all of the comforts that life affords. Is that what you want, sweet Lizzy? All of the things in your apartment—the things you bought for yourself.”
He—knows where I live.
“Yes.” I choked out my words and nodded. “Please let me go…”
I’d settle for water, fast food and a blanket right now, but I definitely want to go home.
“No.” He shook his head back and forth. “You don’t deserve all of those things, because you’ve been a very bad girl.”
“Then tell me what I did wrong. Let me apologize.” I leaned against the bars of the cage and felt tears welling up in my eyes. “Please don’t hurt me.”
“I like it when you beg.” A sinister grin spread across his face. “But before you leave this cage, you’re going to beg me to hurt you—because that will be your penance, sweet Lizzy—pain. Emotional pain. Physical pain. The kind of pain you like to inflict on others.”
“I—I’ve never hurt anyone.” I blinked in surprise.