Last night.

I awoke in an upright position, my arms and legs half-numb. Finally able to understand my situation, my stomach flips up into my throat. Bound exquisitely to a straight-backed wooden chair, I take in my surroundings carefully before attempting to struggle myself out of the knots. I'm in a bare room with boarded up windows, and I seem to be the only occupant. The house I can't remember entering creaks in the wind, whistling past the slats in the boards and making me shiver violently. I can hear the T.V. blaring downstairs. I pull at my hands and get no give in the knots keeping them together. Ropes dig into my legs and make them burn when I try to free myself from this hellish prison. A train flashes past the house, blaring its horn as if to say, "I know you're here, but I won't do anything to help you. You're on your own..."

Tears fall from my eyes as I pull hard at my bindings. The old chair stands firm in its foundations and soon my wrists are rubbed raw with the effort. The tears slip down my cheeks and into my lap as I try once more to rip my hands from the ropes. I moan quietly, dropping my head and trying to ignore the warm blood dripping from my wrists down my palms to my fingertips. I'm stuck, and there's nothing I can do about it.

The stairs squeak outside the door behind me. I whip my head up and try to hear any sign of a friendly voice. In this situation, I doubt it. Fear settles into the pit of my stomach as the footsteps get closer. They take each stair slowly, and a sound so deep resonates into my ears I'm certain they're boots. A man's boots. I turn my head to face the opposite wall as they reach the top of the stairs. The doorknobs turns quickly, and suddenly he's in the room. I count the cobwebs hanging from the windows over and over, trying to calm my shaking and not appear nervous.

Fingertips slide themselves up my arm and I start, whimpering in my attempts to move my arms away from his touches. He grabs onto my wounded wrists and twists the ropes, laughing quietly when I scream in pain. He wraps an arm around my neck and pulls my head sideways, attaching his chapped lips to my collarbone and sucking harshly. I'm shaking so hard I know he can feel it. His breath is hot on the back of my neck as his hands run up and down my sides; I still don't know what he looks like. He whispers something obscene in my ears that I can't make out, but the tears are threatening to spill from my eyes any second.

I shudder as his fingertips reach my legs and I resume counting of the cobwebs to keep my reserve from breaking. One...two...three...He won't kill me. He won't do more than this. What if he does kill me?...four...five...six...seven...Where will they bury me? How will they do it? Will they torture me first--EIGHT. NINE.--His hands make me feel disgusting. He is disgusting. I don't think I can stand more of this--TEN. ELEVEN. TWEL--

As quick as he entered, he is gone. Everything is gone. The world goes black and I'm lost in a sea of darkness. My hands and arms, once tingling with pain, are freed from their bindings. There is no pain, there is no emotion. Maybe one emotion. I can't tell what this is, but it's there, hanging like a slow-moving cloud on a sunny day. The air is hazy and makes it hard to breathe, but breathing here isn't needed anyway. I don't know how I know that. I don't know how I know anything. I feel as thought my molecules have all split and gone off in opposite directions, leaving only my soul intact. I feel warm. I feel nothing. Nothing feels me. I can't understand it. Am I dead? Am I--

I wake up with a sharp intake of air and realize I've been holding my breath in my sleep. My lungs burn terribly as I gulp down large lungfuls of air. I roll over and check my text messages, the sweat clinging to my body not escaping my distracted attention. Connor texted me last night. Who's Connor? Why did he text me? Still in need of air, I'm confused. I'm breathing heavily and have been for the last few minutes. How long was I sleeping without breathing? Too long. Everything comes back to me as my heartrate calms, and I doze off again before what I've dreamt decides to become reality.