Madison walked over and inspected the broken gold chain, taking it from Sam to hold up close to her face. She normally wore glasses but they had been left behind when the man abducted them. It was a gold nameplate necklace, like the one Carrie Bradshaw had made popular on Sex and the City. The name on the necklace read ‘Sasha.’

‘It belonged to one of the last two girls who were abducted,’ Madison said, gesturing to the list of names etched into the wall next to the toilet. Rachel and Sasha were the last two names on the list. She clenched the necklace in her hand, a deep sadness washing over her as she felt a connection to the others who had never found an escape. The sharp corners of the letters dug into her palm but she barely noticed. They had seen a pattern of missing girls being connected on the news, but never in a million years thought she and Sam would end up here. ‘Did you find anything to help us get out?’ she finally asked, refocusing on the task at hand.

‘Nothing,’ Sam said, dejected. ‘You?’

Madison shook her head. ‘No. Maybe we should just start screaming. If someone’s nearby, they might hear us. It could be our best shot.’

The women screamed for help until their throats were raw. They banged their shackles against every surface they could reach, trying to drum up as much noise as possible. The only response was the squawking of birds and the rustling of leaves on trees. Exhausted, they both retreated to their respective mattresses feeling defeated.

‘Why do you think he numbered us?’ Sam whispered, breathing heavily, rubbing her sore ankles that were bruising from the harsh metal digging in along the bone.

Madison looked at the names scratched into the wall. ‘Not sure why he wrote them on us, but my guess is we’re the tenth and eleventh women he’s taken … Remember when they reported finding the bodies of those missing girls over the years on the news? I can’t remember exactly how many they said there were but it was a lot. There are only eight names on the wall though, which doesn’t add up unless one woman just didn’t add hers. So who knows? He called me Ten in the other room, too. Maybe he can’t face calling us by name, the bastard. Just another thing he’s taking away from us.’

‘Yeah, he called me by my number too.’ Sam laid her chin on her knees and looked at the floor. ‘We’re going to end up dead just like the rest, aren’t we? There’s no one coming for us, is there?’ Sam asked, her voice hoarse.