Tangled in Moonlight: Unshifted novel Chapter 149

149 Lisa: Enthralled (I) 

LISA 

When moonlight fades and the sun rises, I can see my cell with more clarity.

Rust clings to my wrists and ankles, the metal biting into my skin with every trembling movement. Chains rattle against stone, a sound that mocks my rising panic. No matter how I strain and yank, they hold fast, ignoring the blood that streams down my arms when my skin breaks under the pressure.

This cell, this prison, is a nightmare made manifest. Cold, damp air seeps into my bones, and the stench of decay fills my nostrils. No comfort of a bed greets me, only the unforgiving hardness of the floor beneath my body.

A single, rotting bucket sits in the far corner, a cruel

taunt of basic needs denied.

My eyes dart around, desperate for some sign of escape, but the walls offer no salvation. Rough–hewn stone and brick, marred by the telltale stains of suffering, mock my desperation. Those dark splatters,

149 Lisa: Enthralled (1)

rust–brown and eerie in the dim light filtering through the tiny window above, speak of horrors I can’t begin to imagine.

But I don’t need to imagine, do I? I’m living it now.

Why? The question pounds in my head. Why me? What does my captor want?

I grasp at my memories, trying to make sense of the jumbled pieces. The party, the laughter, the punch that made my head swim. Bren. The vampire.

But nothing else.

Tears sting my eyes, hot and bitter as they slip down. my cheeks.

I want to scream, to yell until my voice gives out, but some instinct warns me against it. Don’t let them know you’re awake. Don’t give them a reason to come.

It’s been peaceful so far, but that can’t last forever.

But oh, how I want to scream.

I did, all night, and no one came to save me.

Though no one came to shut me up, either.

The tears come harder now, my body shaking with

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silent sobs. I curl in on myself as much as the chains. allow, trying to make myself small, trying to disappear. But there’s nowhere to hide, nowhere to go but the confines of my own mind.

And in my mind, the questions swirl, dark and insidious. What do they want with me? Why go through the trouble of taking me, of keeping me alive? The possible answers terrify me, each more gruesome than the last. Ransom, torture, some sick game… I shudder, bile rising in my throat.

Scraping sounds and whispers pierce the silence, dragging me from my thoughts.

I tense, straining to hear more, to understand what’s happening beyond my cell. It’s only then that I realize the odd dripping sound, the one that had been my constant companion, disappeared while I was lost in fitful sleep.

Fear has my gut tightening into a cramping pain as the scraping grows louder, closer. It’s a grating, unnatural noise that sets my teeth on edge and causes my head to ache. The whispers, too, become more distinct, though I can’t make out the words. The voices are low, urgent, and filled with a malevolence that makes me

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want to curl up and hide.

But there’s nowhere to go, nowhere to run, because I’m chained to the floor.

The scraping stops, and for a moment, there’s only silence. Heavy, oppressive, making it hard to breathe.

And then, a grinding sound, like stone against stone. My eyes widen as part of the wall slides into itself, revealing a dark passageway. A figure steps through, tall and imposing, and my heart nearly stops.

It’s him. The vampire from the party.

He looks just as I remember, all pale skin and dark hair, with eyes that gleam with a predatory light. His lips curve into a smile, but there’s no warmth in it. Only a cruel amusement that makes my blood run cold.

“Hello, kitten,” he purrs, his voice like silk over steel.

I shrink back as far as my chains allow, despite the pain in my wrists, bleeding and swollen from many attempts to get out of these manacles.