Page 6 of Sully

My eyes shot open, ignoring the pain screaming in my head. From the blow I’d taken to the head.

Wherever I was, it was dark. I blinked, trying to adjust to the low light, but all there were shadows all around, closing in, swallowing up all of the air, making my throat…

No.

No, I had to focus.

This was not the time for a panic attack.

I mean, itwas. But it wasn’t a time when I could afford to lose myself to it.

I had to focus.

I had to figure out where I was.

Why I was there.

What this man wanted from me.

You know what he wants, that awful little voice whispered in the back of my mind.

I wasn’t one of the girls who could consume endless true crime content. The more I watched, the more my pulse would pound and my mind would race. Until I was in a full-blown anxiety spiral.

That said, I was informed enough to know that there was basically only one reason a strange man wanted to grab you and take you.

“Uh-uh,” he said as I lifted my arms again, ready to defend myself if necessary. “You might want to rethink all that moving around,” the voice said.

Then, suddenly, a light was flashing on, temporarily blinding me with its brightness. The pain behind my eyes intensified as my heartbeat thundered in my chest, neck, wrists…

Breathe.

I needed to breathe.

Calm down.

Focus.

I swallowed past the lump in my throat and blinked until my eyes adjusted.

It was a simple exposed bulb hanging down from a ceiling, illuminating the cinderblock walls and cement floors that were splashed here and there with different colored paint.

Okay.

A basement.

I was in a basement.

That was—scary, horrible, challenging—good to know.

Basements often had interior and exterior exits.

And, hey, even those tiny little windows, even if I wasn’t sure I could wedge my body through one of them.

It wasn’t hopeless. I could still get away.

I could see my attacker, standing several feet away, still somewhat in shadow. Not that it would matter even if I could see him fully. He was not only decked out in black but wearing a ski mask and gloves.

That was… good, right?

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