‘I have to go to the bathroom,’ Nancy said as she rose and wobbled her way over to the toilet. The chains coiled up around her ankles lengthened, making loud clinking sounds that made both of them cringe, while looking anxiously at the door. Luckily, it remained in place. She was just able to make it to the toilet and sit down with the chain stretched taut. He had measured it perfectly. When she turned to grab the toilet paper that was on the floor next to the toilet, she squinted and said, ‘What’s that?’

‘What?’

‘Right here, there’s something scratched into the wood.’ She pointed down to the bottom of the wall.

Nancy flushed the toilet and pulled up her pants while Casey crawled over to where she’d pointed, her chains scraping against the floor. Casey ran her fingers over the indentations. She followed the lines with her forefinger and then her head snapped in Nancy’s direction.

‘They’re names. Look— There, it says “Catherine and Ruby,” then underneath that …’ Casey squinted and moved closer. ‘“Julie and Linda”.’

Casey sat back on her heels, looking sadly at the names. Realization about what this meant dawned on Nancy and she began pacing back and forth, saying ‘Oh God’ over and over. She no longer noticed how much noise she was making, lost in the dark spiral of thoughts consuming her.

‘We aren’t the first.’ Casey dragged her hands down her face and exhaled.

‘Oh my God, Casey. Why did he take us? What’s he gonna do?’ she cried, tears flowing down her cheeks as she melted into a state of panic.

‘Nancy, I need you to calm down. Come here.’ Casey stood and pulled her friend into a hug. Both their chains were pulled as far as they could go and they were barely able to embrace one another. Nancy sniffed into Casey’s fluffy black cropped sweater.

When they pulled away, Casey said, ‘Let’s see how far we can go with these shackles. We need to look for a way out of here.’

Each girl walked the length and width of the room as far as they were able to. They could both reach the wall with the toilet easily but their chains didn’t allow them within two feet of the door. Suddenly they heard a key insert into the lock and Nancy rushed back over to Casey. The door creaked open slowly and the man’s face came into view.

‘Well look who’s awake.’ He had two blankets and pillows in his hands. ‘This is my first peace offering. If you behave, then tomorrow you’ll both get a mattress to sleep on.’ He walked two steps forward and dropped the blankets and pillows on the ground near them. Casey and Nancy cowered away from him.

‘What do you want?!’ Casey screamed.