Page 73 of Cruel Riches

I was in a tiny room with a floor made up of dirt and stone. It was quite dark, but I could tell that the walls were made of brick on three sides with a set of bars covering the other side. They were old and rusted. It was like a jail cell from the nineteenth century.

I dragged myself over to the bars, wondering how I got here and why my limbs felt so heavy. It was a major effort to lift my fingers, let alone my legs. My head was filled with noise as well, like static from a radio tuned to the wrong station.

“What… what’s happening?” I muttered. When I heard my voice, I noticed I was slurring. I was either trapped in another nightmare or drugged to the gills.

I rubbed my eyes and peered between the bars. There was a trace of ambient light coming from somewhere outside the cell, and when I squinted hard, I could see that I was in a tunnel.

I couldn’t remember how I got here. I couldn’t remember anything from the last few hours or days.

I turned my head to scan the little cell again. There was a flimsy mattress on one side of the space, barely big enough to fit a child, and a plastic bucket on the other side. Nothing else.

There was another light now, and it was coming closer, bobbing up and down. There were faint footsteps, too, getting closer and closer. A person was approaching from the right side of the tunnel. I wanted to call out for help, but something told me I should stay quiet.

As the light drew nearer, the cell became much easier to see, and when I looked at the grayish brick walls and the stony floor over to my left, every inch of my body began to tremble violently. I couldn’t control it, couldn’t keep myself still.

Blood.

Half the cell was coated in it; dried reddish-brown stains and smears.

Terror spread right to my bones, and then my gut, and I thought I might throw up. I leaned forward and retched into the bucket.

“That’s the drugs,” a deep male voice said from somewhere behind me. “They can cause nausea.”

Something must’ve happened to me. I was at a hospital, and the voice was a nurse or doctor. He was going to explain what happened to me, and then my friends and sister would come and visit me.

That didn’t explain the cell I was trapped in, but that could be a hallucination. After all, the voice did tell me I’d been drugged.

I wiped my lips and turned around, mouth falling open at the sight of the man on the other side of the bars. He was tall and dressed in dark clothing, and a black plague mask covered his face. A small black bag hung from one arm.

“What’s happening to me?” I asked, voice cracking halfway through the sentence. “Who are you?”

He dropped the bag and crouched next to it. “I brought you some water,” he said, ignoring my questions. His voice was perfectly calm, as if everything that was happening was completely normal. “I came earlier, but you were still passed out. You know you talk in your sleep?”

I gulped and shook my head. “No.”

The plague mask tipped to the side as the man tilted his head. “You were crying. Then you were begging for forgiveness from someone named Claire.”

“She’s gone,” I whispered, slumping against the wall.

“I know. Everyone knows,” he replied, voice dripping with disdain. “It’s why you’re here.”

My eyes widened. “What?”

“It’s your fault, Alexis. You know that.”

“No.” I shook my head wildly. “No, I didn’t do anything.”

The memories were flooding back now—the clandestine interview with Jon, the affair story, the cars blocking me off, the men in masks. They’d drugged me and taken me somewhere.

The man got off the ground and rose to his full height. “You killed Claire, just like you killed the other girl. Nessa Pratchett.” He tapped the lower half of his mask. “But I guess you already knew her name, didn’t you? I’m sure she told you at some point. Where did you keep her and Claire, by the way? I’m curious.”

“I didn’t do anything to anyone,” I said through gritted teeth.

“Don’t lie to me, Alexis. It won’t help you.”

“I’m not lying.”

“You are. You took those girls and killed them just like your father did ten years ago.”

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