Her head had barely cleared when the man leaned over and with one hand yanked Em’s head back while the other squeezed her jaw until her mouth opened. Then he dropped the pill to the back of her throat, growling when it appeared Em might vomit. He tipped the remaining water, but from what Addis could see, most of it hit Em’s lips.

Rising back to his full height, he swiped one hand across the back of his neck before cradling his head like a vise. Then out of the blue, one booted foot kicked out, landing squarely on Addis’s thigh, eliciting a muted, choked cry of pain.

‘Not my fault. Not my fault. Your fault!’ The muttered but frenzied claim was recited like a bad song stuck on the same lyric.

More than she’d ever wanted anything, Addis wished she could reach out and hold Emerson’s hand. That was until a sudden strong breeze blew across her face, and she realized the front door was open. The urge to run gnawed like a dog with a bone, but she knew she’d never make it five steps, and there was no way she’d abandon her best friend anyway.

Instead, she stared longingly, seeing nothing but a forest of trees beyond the front stoop, telling her that they were in a mountainous area – which, actually, told her absolutely nothing.

The sudden silence that knocked Addis away from the dream of escaping was replaced by the grating sound of the man’s booted feet scratching against the floor. Shivers ran a marathon up her spine and settled at the base of her neck, the tiny hairs there standing out.

The scraping stopped in front of the crawl space. ‘Get in,’ he ordered.

Unaware she was going to do it, Addis found herself pleading for something more to drink. ‘Please, water,’ she managed to croak out through her fear.

What she thought was a shadow of regret shaded the man’s eyes, but she knew it was more likely anger at her for having spilled most of what he’d brought. Just when she thought he’d deny them, he picked up the discarded bottle from the floor and retreated around the corner. Rattling pipes creaked, and then he was back. Addis did her best to ignore the cloudy color, as well as the bits of debris floating in the water, as the man knelt before her and waited for her to tip her head back so he could allow her to drink. He only allowed her half before giving the rest to Emerson.

Once again, he rose to his full height and discarded the empty water bottle by tossing it somewhere behind him. Pointing, he ordered, ‘Time to go back in.’