CONSUME

10.

CHAPTER TEN

It felt like Esther had been crushed, both physically and mentally. When she woke, she was overwhelmed by the pain that erupted in her body. Her mind was contaminated by the night before, her friends death overplaying in her head while she fought to gain focus. Her head was pounding, her vision blurred as she took in her surroundings.

Light seeped into the room trough a small window adorned by white curtains. The wind whistles trough it, the thin isolation not keeping the cold out. Large wooden beams, a dresser and the wide bed she laid on took up most of the space. There was a door, that she guessed lead to a bathroom and another that she figured lead to the rest of the cabin.

She realized that her hands were chained.

She pulled at them, the silver chains unmoving.

A blue bed cover had been pulled over her but she still felt the cold of the room seep trough her skin. She was still dressed in her clothing from the day before, bruises showing on her skin from the struggle in the forest.

Her tears had dried.

She couldn't break down at the moment.

All she could think about was how to get out.

She needed to play this right to escape.

She could hear him moving trough the cabin,

She tried to think of all the movies she had seen, the hostage situations and the kidnappings. She knew that the first 48 hours are the most vital for a missing person, after that, it would get harder to find them.

She hoped that her captor wouldn't find the letters she had stored in Mia's house. The box of things he had gifted her, his written obsession was hidden underneath Mia's bed. She hoped another officer would find it before him, that they would realize she had been taken and that she hadn't fled a murder scene.

She hoped they could figure out that Graham Reid, the beloved police officer, was a wolf in sheep's clothing.

They had to.

And until they did, she had to figure out how to escape.

She glanced at the window, not seeing a hatch. She glanced at the door, knowing he had locked it. She wondered if there was a window in the bathroom, if that one wasn't sealed.

She tugged at the chains again, hoping he didn't hear it. The chains were thick, she couldn't break them. The bed frame that they were tied to were made of hard wood, one that wouldn't break even if she slammed at it with all her weight.

She would only exhaust herself if she tried.

The sound of the floor creaking outside made her flinch, her attention on high alert as she watched the door knob turn.

He looked at her with a wide smile.

He seemed casual, his uniform gone as he looked at her like this was natural, like he hadn't stolen her and killed her friends.

"You're awake."

"Yeah, you just hit me hard enough for a mild concussion." She sneered at him, narrowing her stare as she looked at him with disgust.