Chapter 255

Aurora's Perspective For the next day—or what I guessed was a day; in this lightless hole, time was a goddamn joke—I sat stewing in my own anxiety, the feeling of something being deeply *off* growing stronger with every passing, unmarked hour. I was a specimen pinned in a jar, festering. The two masked idiots hadn't shown their faces since the call with the shitty flip phone. No food, no threats, not even a check through the door's slot to see if I was still breathing. Just dead silence, thick enough to choke on, broken only by my own ragged breathing or the angry growl of my empty stomach. This was wrong. So wrong. What kidnapper doesn't keep an eye on their prize? Unless… they didn’t care if I saw them. Or they had more pressing business. Or they were just that confident this place was an inescapable cage. Hunger and thirst became real torment. My lips were cracked, my throat on fire, my stomach clenching on nothing. The cold, greasy fast-food burger and s