SLOANE
Consciousness returned slowly, painfully. My head pounded like someone had taken a hammer to my skull repeatedly.
I groaned softly, trying to move. That's when I realized my hands were bound behind my back, rough rope cutting into my wrists. My ankles were tied together too, more rope wrapped tight enough to cut off circulation.
I forced my eyes open, blinking against the dim lighting. We were in some kind of warehouse, empty except for a few metal support beams reaching up toward a ceiling lost in shadows.
"Vera?" My voice came out hoarse, barely above a whisper. "Vera, are you awake?"
I heard movement beside me, then a groan. "Sloane?"
Relief flooded through me. She was alive. We were both alive, even if we were tied up in what looked like the set of a horror movie.
Vera
