All But Her Strings

The world outside the bulky ute appeared as a large blur, sharpening its tone as it began to slow down, parking out the front of a desolate cabin-like house.
"Get out girlie..." intense anxiety filled the mans husky voice.

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"She's coming back! She's alive!" The old lady smiled to herself as her slowly fading mind continued to tick through memories. She reached for the whiskey bottle, but her feet; bound by chains, made it difficult.
Suddenly, the door into the dank cellar burst open, and, hiding the bottle under her rotting shirt, she sat up, her frail bones scraping against one another.
The sheriff walked in with Laela, folded lifelessly in his arms, a look of rage on his face and a slight twinkle in his eye.
"Take her!" He yelled throwing her unconscious body down the stairs, her feet bound like her mother's.

"Laela, sweet heart. Wake up." Her fragile mother poured some whiskey into her mouth, bringing her back to life.
She sat up, confused.
"M... M... Mother?" Laela stuttered, confused and still slightly out of it.
"Oh Laela!!" Her mother exclaimed, thankfully. "I'm so glad you're okay."
"Where am I?" She looked around the dark cellar, she could just barely make out large barrels lining the damp walls.
"You... You're in..." She looked down shamefully. "The sheriffs house. I refused to go to jail. But now that you're back, we probably only have a few more days until we get sent there..." Tears formed in her eyes as she took another skull of whiskey.
"Ma! What happened?"
"I can't tell you. Not yet at least. Well, I just wanna know... What happened to you? Well, how did you get here at least?"
"I... I can't really remember..." She thought hard. Suddenly it came back to her...

She walked into the house as it suddenly got cold.
"Here she is, sheriff."The man said
"It's about fucking time! You good-for-nothing b-as-tehhd!" The sheriff stammered, as he dropped the whiskey bottle on the ground.
Laela shook at the knees as he came over to her, he was holding a small black capsule in his hand.
"Hey sweet thing. Now do exactly what I tell 'ya now, okay?" He said, drunk.
Laela nodded her head, timidly.
"Open your mouth," she opened her mouth "And close your eyes..."
But before she could, he had his hand in her mouth, shoving the black capsule down her throat.
She screamed as loud as she could, but the sheriff had grabbed her throat.
From then on, all she could remember was the blackness that soon closed into her as she fell to the floor.