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ELIZA WAS TRAPPED IN her own mind. She could understand that much. Her timeline had lapsed somewhere between leaving the reunion after seeing Phillip and Morgan together, and waking up in the trunk of a car, caked in blood and sick to her stomach. It felt like she’d swallowed a thunderstorm whole, and now the lightning was trying to escape the confines of her body by any means necessary.
Walter Nilsen. The name was branded on her brain. It hurt to think of him. She wasn’t sure how, but deep in her core, she knew this was his doing. Had he spiked the punch again?
Another name tried to rise to the surface, but it was unfamiliar. Graham Pierce? That couldn’t be right, she thought. Hadn’t she seen David Vitz at the reunion? She was sure they’d planned an illicit tryst. She wondered if he was waiting outside her apartment door. Maybe knocking loud enough to wake the neighbors. Would he assume she had stood him up and go home? Her heart pinched with regret.
A throbbing ache that seemed to course through her entire body finally urged her eyes open. She was in a dark room, lying on a bed. A thin, wool blanket scratched at her exposed skin. Her new dress was gone, a hospital gown left in its place. The tips of her fingers burned, and so did the side of her neck. She reached for her throat, but a metal cuff bit into her wrist.
“What?” Her chest tightened, and her breath wheezed as panic set in.
“You had to be restrained for your own safety.”
The voice was unfamiliar. Eliza strained until her eyes adjusted to the low lighting and took in the room—or rather, the cell she was in. Other than the small bed, there wasn’t a stitch of furniture or décor in sight. Not even a rug on the concrete floor. Dusty blue paint covered the walls and ceiling, where a caged light fixture that could hardly pass for a nightlight shone down on the pitiful room.
A man with long, gray hair stood in front of the only door, glancing over some document attached to a clipboard.
“Are you...a doctor? Why am I here? Where is here?” Eliza asked.
“I’m Dr. Delph, and this is Orpheus House, a rehabilitation center—”
“But I’ve never done drugs in my life,” she protested. “This is a mistake.”
“I couldn’t agree more, Ms. Wilson.”
“How do you know my name?” she snapped. “Who checked me into this place? Is this Phillip’s doing? He can have the apartment. He can have everything! I don’t care.”
“Calm down, Ms. Wilson,” Dr. Delph said, finally glancing up from his clipboard. He looked tired. “Please, forgive my curtness. This is the third time we’ve had this conversation, and it is quite late.”
“But I...I...” Eliza’s eye welled, and she began to pant again. Why couldn’t she remember this man? She could tell something was wrong with her, but she never expected something this wrong.
“You’ve been bitten, and you’re quite ill.” Dr. Delph hid a yawn behind his closed fist and blinked a few times. “A colleague of mine, Graham Pierce, brought you here for treatment.”
Graham Pierce. She recognized the name, but she couldn’t picture his face. Still, it rocked a chill through her shoulders, causing the chains attached to her hands to rattle. They were fastened to her ankles, too. The medieval touch was alarming.
“I didn’t know rehab centers still used these kinds of restraints.” Her throat felt dry. Boiling hot panic bubbled up her esophagus, and she nearly choked on a scream, swallowing it back at the last moment.
“You’re quite strong,” Dr. Delph said. “And we couldn’t stop you from ripping out your hair otherwise.”
As soon as he’d mentioned it, Eliza felt a tender ache encircle the crown of her head. She didn’t remember doing anything of the sort. That was something crazy people did. She wasn’t crazy.
“You’re lying.” A sob cracked her voice. “I bet you’re not even a real doctor. Did Phillip put you up to this? Is he paying you? I can pay you more,” she pleaded.
Eliza didn’t have that kind of money, and now she was out of a job. But maybe this doctor didn’t know that. Maybe Phillip hadn’t fed him all the details of her misfortune before siccing him on her.
Dr. Delph sighed and glanced down at his watch. “Sunrise is in an hour. You’ll be able to get some rest then. We all will.”
Eliza slammed her fists on the bed, rattling the chains. “I won’t rest until I’m out of this hellhole.”
He ignored her outburst and opened the door. It was made of thick metal, perhaps steel, Eliza though. As it closed behind Dr. Delph, she noticed a series of claw-like marks crisscrossed over its surface, scratching away the blue paint to reveal shiny silver beneath.
The sight stole her breath, and again, she wondered where she could possibly be. She’d never heard of a place called Orpheus House, and she didn’t buy it for one second. She had to get out of here.
As she tugged at her chains, they rattled loudly, echoing through the room. Dr. Delph did not return to reprimand her. Instead, another voice wailed from somewhere beyond her cell. The sound slipped through a tiny, barred window high up on the door.
She wasn’t alone in this place.
The thought offered little comfort, and Eliza couldn’t make out any words from the shrill, feminine cry. Something about it was...off. Other than the fact that it was likely coming from some other poor woman who had been locked away by a vindictive husband. That was the only story that made sense to Eliza for her current dilemma.
But the unusual howling still grated at her. Like maybe it wasn’t coming from a human at all, but rather a coyote imitating one. She couldn’t decide.
Eliza continued to struggle against the chains and resisted the urge to add her own cries to the mournful noise. Her wrists were raw in no time. When she finally paused to inspect the damage, she noticed blood and bits of meat and hair under her fingernails. Several of her nails were broken, some past the quick, but new ones were already growing underneath. The soft, virgin tissue peeking out from under the mutilation.
How long have I been here?
The question pushed her over the edge. A scream raked up her throat and joined the psychotic wailing. But it didn’t last long.
Eliza’s head throbbed from the chaos flooding her mind, and then everything went black.