Chapter 252

Lily woke with a sharp pull in her chest, like her breath had been yanked away. Her head felt heavy. Her eyes fluttered open, and all she saw at first was a cracked ceiling and dust floating in the air. Her wrists burned before her mind caught up. They were tied behind the chair with a rough rope that scraped her skin every time she moved. Her ankles were bound too, tight enough that she couldn’t shift her legs. The chair itself wobbled a little, old wood, one leg shorter than the others. The room smelled like sand, rust, and something damp. When her eyes adjusted, she realized she was in a desert house, the kind that looked like it hadn’t seen people in years. The walls were bare, patches of paint eaten away. A single bulb hung from the ceiling but wasn’t turned on. Light only seeped in through a broken window covered with a bent metal grille. She listened. Men’s voices drifted from somewhere far in the building. Not shouting, just talking, but it was enough to make her stomach twist.