‘We’ve gotta get out of here, Nina. I can’t do this anymore. This asshole has kept us here long enough. I don’t want it to be my tooth that the next girl finds. I’m sick of beef jerky and crackers.’ She kicked the snack box, sending it spinning across the floor toward Nina, where it tipped over. ‘I’m sick of being his slave and calling him fucking Master. I’m sick of being chained to a damned wall. And you’ve seen in the news what he’s done to those other women, because come on, he’s obviously the same guy from those articles that were going around on Facebook about The Tri-State Killer. We can’t end up like them. We have to get out of here!’

‘And how do you propose we do that?’ Nina asked, unbuttoning her own collar and righting the snack box, tossing in the small bag of Doritos that had fallen out, before shoving it back across the cement. Elise would have to put it back in its proper place before he came in again.

Elise sighed and stopped pacing. She dropped down to her mattress. ‘Look, there’s two of us and only one of him. When he comes in tomorrow morning and he goes to give you the shot, his back will be to me. I’ll rush him when he’s within striking distance of my chains. When I do that, you grab the needle from his hand and inject him with it.’ She paused, clearly expecting Nina to meet her enthusiasm on this new plan. ‘Well, what do you think?’ she asked after she was greeted with silence.

Nina looked at the hope on Elise’s face, something she herself had none of left. She wanted hope to fill her heart so badly, like it had for Elise. But as much as she tried, it wouldn’t come. She was sure it was a lost cause.

Lying back onto her bed, Nina said, ‘I think you’re going to get us killed.’

CHAPTER 25