Page 54 of Redemption

Epilogue

Phebe

Death.

Blessed release.

Neither would be comingfor me no matter how much I wished otherwise. Instead, I was stuck living in this hell I now called life. A sob disguised as a laugh escaped before I could stop it, and the echo of the sound bouncing off the walls mocked me. I thought I was going mad, and to be honest, I welcomed the madness. Perhaps if I were mad, I could forget what was happening to me. Sadly, I knew no such thing would happen. No matter what they did to me, my mind remained intact. Luck never came to people like me.

I closed my eyes and pictured sunlight. I thought about the sun and the way the rays of light would catch on a raindrop and produce the brilliant colors of the rainbow. The way it sparkled like diamonds on glistening, white snow. I could almost swear my body heated slightly with the thought of the sun shining down on it. Mentally, I absorbed the heat and forced the chills to escape my cold, half-naked form lying on the even colder floor.

A countless number of days had passed, how many I couldn’t tell. I’d lost track, and soon they ran together in nothing but one endless night. One that was nightmare filled. A shiver racked my body and my mind drifted back to the faux sunshine coming through the non-existent window in my cell wall. And it was a cell. Gray stone walls surrounded me on three sides, and I refused to open my eyes to the steel bars in front of me. I didn’t need to open them to know they were there. I received daily reminders when my captors led me through them to whatever fate awaited me on the other side.

A muffled sound came from far away, but I ignored it. My punishment would come soon enough. I didn’t think about it unless I had to. The sound grew louder, but I blocked the noise out. Sunshine was my only friend in this bleak existence I now found myself in. I heard a crash outside the entrance to the room my cell was housed in. Instinctively, I flinched when the door slammed open. I didn’t move again. Not that it would have mattered. I would have made myself smaller, and less conspicuous, if I thought it would make a difference. I remained curled on my side, my knees tucked to my chest. I’d learned after the first few days to stop fighting. My struggles only turned them on more.

“Phebe? Phebe Lawson?”

Well, shit, I guess wishes do come true. My mind had finally snapped. Knowing I wouldn’t see anything, I forced my eyes to open and raised my head, because I thought my eyes were deceiving me. Blink. Blink. A hazy outline of a man, with what appeared to be a gun drawn, stood silhouetted in the doorway. Finally, death had come to take me away. A sweet relief coursed through me, and my head sagged back down to the floor.

“She’s in here! She’s alive.” The booming voice sounded too loud in my ears.

Metal against metal scraped my eardrums as a key was thrust into the lock of my cell door. It clanged against the wall as it was hastily tore open. Tentative footsteps moved closer, and I waited for the gunshot. I hoped he made it quick. However, instead of the pain of a bullet, the bittersweet pain of a soft touch floated across my hair, gently moving it out of my face.

“Phebe.” The deep male voice came from directly above me. Why was he torturing me? Just do it and get it over with. Against my will, a tear spilled from behind my closed eyes. A thumb ghosted across my cheek taking the moisture with it, causing another involuntary flinch. “Phebe, my name is Daniel Webber. I’m with the Pinegrove Police. I’m here to take you home.”

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