chapter 7. Life in Captivity

BELLE I woke up before Grayson did, and I had no clue what to do. I could feel his breath against the back of my neck, slow and steady. I thought of my mom and wondered if she was worried after I hadn’t shown up at her apartment last night. Maybe she would call the police and they’d come looking for me. But there was a large chance that she hadn’t even noticed I wasn’t there—or just assumed that I hadn’t come out of anger. That sounded like something I would do. So it would be smart not to rely on her trying to find me. I was on my own. I had to find my way out of here. But how? I could try to run away again, but the memory of the pain that I’d experienced earlier this morning went through my mind. There was no way I was doing that again. So I had some options: I could completely give up—just lie there and wait for Grayson to wake up, and let him have his way with me. Why does that sound like a good option? I could wait for Grayson to wake up, then pretend to still be