She poured the dirty water into the sink, placing the bowl back in its spot on the counter, and then sank back down to the floor next to him. She knew the drill. She held her hands out and he squirted lotion into them. At least they were clean now, she thought as she worked on his left foot. For the next half hour Rosa massaged the man’s rough, ugly feet, until he pulled them away and rolled down the cuffs of his jeans. He took her back to her room, attached her shackles to the wall, and locked the door behind him when he exited. Rowan, unsurprisingly, was still sleeping on her mattress. She wasn’t handling their captivity well. When she wasn’t crying, she was sleeping. Rowan wasn’t eating much either, causing her to lose a significant amount of weight. She barely even talked to Rosa.

Rosa tried to be understanding but she found herself feeling resentful. She and Rowan weren’t exactly friends before the man abducted them and brought them here. Rowan had answered Rosa’s ad for a roommate to share her small two-bedroom cottage that was within walking distance to the university. They’d only lived together for a few months before the man snatched them from their beds in the middle of the night. Rowan had her own circle of friends and a fairly opposite class schedule, so they didn’t hang out much. In fact, they mostly only saw each other in passing when they were getting ready to go to sleep. It didn’t bother Rosa because most of her time was consumed by studying anyway. She’d also just beaten out several of her male counterparts for a highly coveted government internship, so she would’ve been spending even less time at their cottage.

But now she felt like she was being held captive alone, which made this whole mess even worse. She wouldn’t want to impose this torture on someone she loved but she wished desperately for any companionship to help her get through the darkness. Rowan’s inability to be her friend in this time of need made Rosa feel cold and bitter. In the beginning, she had tried to connect with Rowan and help protect her from the man’s wrath. But now, Rosa practically forgot Rowan was even there. Sometimes when she heard Rowan crying in the night, she couldn’t decide if it was real or if it was in her own head as she slowly descended into insanity.