Cassie lifted her face from her sweat-drenched pillow. She rubbed her cold cheek and wiped her nose in an attempt to clear the smell. All it did was allow the musty odor of the room to pervade her senses again.
The overhead light cast a dim wash of yellow across the room. It was always the same. How long had she been sleeping? She’d lost all sense of time. It could be two in the morning and she had no clue.
Sometimes she awoke to find her wrists and ankles bound and tied to the bed posts. There were never any memories to go along with it. Had he been drugging her food and water? She wouldn’t put it past him.
Right now she was free to move about the room. She rose and tugged the damp nightie away from her chest. She would demand a change of clothing next time she saw Novak.
She crept to the corners. What secrets did the room hold? Cassie closed her eyes, inviting any spirits to speak with her. There had to be a tortured soul or two hanging around. Someone Novak had killed, or a weak spirit who somehow became trapped there. After a few minutes of no contact, Cassie opened her eyes and looked around. It seemed brighter now. No one had been in, though. Perhaps Novak had a way of controlling the lighting from outside.
She tiptoed to the door, stopping short a few inches. A cool draft coated her toes. She placed her hand on the frame and eased her head to it. Her ear was an inch or so from the crack. It was dead silent aside from the sound of her raspy breathing.
That was another concern. She’d never had problems with allergies or asthma, but since being confined to the room, it had become more difficult to take a deep breath.
Was it the room? Or something he’d given her? Or something altogether different? Psychological reasons, maybe.
She knew he’d drugged her at least once. The ride in the van had been a blur. She had awoken at times. Once at a gas station. It hadn’t seemed like they had been moving for long, then he stopped. She managed to lift her head, but that was it. Her legs, arms, torso all felt as though they had been cast in iron.
From there she faded in and out until she finally succumbed to the darkness. Maybe she’d been afraid of dying and that’s why she fought the effects of the tranquilizer for so long. In the end, it had been too much for her.
Cassie shook the thoughts from her mind and stepped away from the door. The cool breeze on her feet diminished with every step back. She walked around the other side of the bed. There was only an eighteen-inch-wide gap between it and the wall. She wedged herself between, then lowered herself to the floor.
Did she really want to know what was under there? It was too dark to see anything beyond vague outlines. She swept her left arm in an arc and pulled out the first item she found. A pale towel. She held it up to the light in search of dirt or blood. Aside from dust, it appeared clean. Cassie pulled her nightie off and patted herself down. Then she wrapped the thin piece of clothing in the towel and wrenched it tight.
She didn’t like the thought of walking around the room naked. Chances were Novak had some way of monitoring her. Was he watching right now? Getting off at the sight of her bare body?
Cassie unwound the towel to retrieve her clothes but stopped. What better test to find out if he was monitoring the room? Could she stand the consequences of her action? Another visit from the demented creep?
A chance to lure him in while he was in his weakest state.
She eased herself onto the sweat-dampened sheets. Her skin pricked in response to the cold. It took a few minutes to adjust. As long as she didn’t move, it was fine.
The ceiling offered no clues. There were no cutouts, no blinking red lights, nothing hidden in plain sight. Where would Novak watch her from?
The overhead light brightened considerably. The sudden change caused a jolt of pain to rifle through her head. It felt as though she had a hangover and moved too quickly. A moment later, the light dimmed again, even lower than it had been before.
She squinted her eyes while staring at the fixture through the bright remnants of light clouding her vision. That’s how he was watching her. He had a camera inside the light. She tucked her right foot under her left knee and laced her fingers together behind her head. How long could he take it before he came into the room?
What the hell am I doing?
It was one thing to be forced to wear next to nothing. But it was quite another to provoke a psychopath. She grabbed the nightie and donned it and then wrapped the towel around her waist like a skirt.
No sooner had she curled up in bed than did the light shut off.
She turned her attention to the door where light seeped into the room through the edges. Shadows would give her advance warning of his presence. The dark offered her cover. She could pounce the moment he walked in. Her gaze shifted to the blackened ceiling. What if he had night vision in there? He’d see her setting up the ambush.
The door swung open and violently collided with the wall. Novak’s frame filled half the opening. He breathed heavily. Had he run to the room?
He crossed the room and hovered over her on the bed. She couldn’t make out his features to tell what kind of mood he was in. He moved quickly, yanking the towel from her waist, then plunged something into her thigh. The needle penetrated her flesh. The stinging gave way to burning as he injected the mixture into her bloodstream. The fire spread up through her hips, stomach, and chest.
Novak took a few steps back. He scrunched the towel into a ball and tossed it at her. It landed on her chest. Her vision started to double. There were two doorways. Two Novaks.
Then there were four of him.
It made no sense. There were still only two doorways.
She saw two of the bodies turn. The other two stood just outside of the room.
Two separate men.
The images began fading as the edges of her vision darkened.
No, this can’t be happening.
“Hello, Detective,” Novak said. “Have you met the lovely Cassie before?”