Weak, shaky, terrified, and cold, Addis tried to keep her head from flopping back to the side by pressing it against the dirt and cobweb-infested wall. Pinpricks of pain stabbed at the back of her neck as tiny splinters from random pieces of wood shaved off and needled themselves into her skin like little cacti. Wetness trailed her cheeks as she whispered Emerson’s name, her only reply the deep breaths of someone sleeping heavily.

A lump wedged in her throat as the familiar panic of being trapped in this crawl space cloaked her. How had her life turned into this nightmare? What could she have done in her past that was so evil it produced this kind of karma?

It was as if Aunt Grace could hear her thoughts because Addis heard her response through the fog in her brain as clearly as if she were sitting beside her. You’re being silly. This isn’t some cosmic force paying you back for something you’ve done. You’re stronger than this, Addis.

‘I’m not,’ she whispered to the invisible specter of her aunt. But even as she said it, she found herself tilting her head up and then from side to side, squinting through the eerie shadows cast from the faint circle of light from a hole cut way above her head in the hopes of finding something that might help them escape. As her eyes darted around the cramped space, her mind raced. Their kidnapper had freed their mouths but had still tied them up. The only reason she could think of for that was because wherever he had them stashed, he was worried less about someone hearing their screams and more about their ability to escape. Her chin wobbled as she forced herself to face the truth – that this could very well be the place she and Emerson died.

If she’d only kept the New Year’s resolution she’d made back in January – it had lasted less than a week – not to let her mom’s never-ending false accusations get to her, then she would’ve never stormed out of her house, thus dragging Em into this nightmare – both of them waiting to be slain just like her parents had been. How would Emerson’s parents go on? How would Hannah?

‘Please, Em, you have to wake up now.’ The pressure behind her rib cage increased as she tried to convince herself that the rising and falling of Em’s chest was not her mind playing cruel tricks, punishing her.

Outside, the howling, screeching wind rocked the place on its decrepit foundation like mini earthquakes. And no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t distinguish between the blustery weather versus the creaking floorboards that would alert her to their kidnapper’s presence beyond the walls of their enclosure.

‘Ugh—’