Chapter 233

• VALENTINA
• ~•~
• Darkness pressed in from every side when I woke. My head throbbed hard, sharp pulses behind my eyes. My wrists hurt worse. Rope bit into the skin, pulled tight behind my back. I tried to move and the rough floor scraped my bare arms and legs. Concrete. Cold. Damp. The air smelled like rust and wet stone. A single bulb hung from the ceiling on a thin cord, swaying slow. Weak yellow light swung across the walls, throwing long shadows that moved with it.