“Nice to meet you, Lynell. I’m Daniel.”

Lynell tries desperately to hold onto the dream. Or memory. It clings to the front of her mind, about to float away. She wants to grasp onto it. Wants to remember the moments that came after meeting Daniel. The years. She wants to feel his lips again. Wants him to hold her. To nurse her back to health.

She’s waking up and she knows Daniel won’t be there. She keeps her eyes resolutely shut, hoping to return to the dream.

Then her eyes fly open as pain attacks her. Reggie stands above her from where she’s lying on the ground, bending her pointer finger on her left hand back. She stares up at him, tears pricking at her eyes as the hurt overtakes her. The finger snaps, Reggie laughs, and Lynell screams, curling away from him.

He lets go and Lynell cradles her arm to her chest.

She gasps for breath but loses it when Reggie grabs another finger. Black spots splatter in front of her eyes when he breaks it, too.

Reggie’s grip moves to her hair. She claws at his hands as he pulls her up to her knees.

“Guess what I brought with me this morning,” he whispers, his breath brushing against her ear.

Lynell’s eyes are wide with fear when she looks to the center of the room to find a silver metal bowl, a blow torch, and a small glass cage that holds a patchy rat.

“Say hi to Arnold. He’s very excited to meet you. Hasn’t had any action in a few months.”

Lynell’s breath quickens, watching the rat scurrying around the cage. Reggie tugs at her hair and she shrieks again.

“I said, say hi,” he growls.

She squeezes her eyes shut and uses her last drop of energy to fight against Reggie’s hold, which causes his grip to tighten and fill her with more pain.

“Before we begin, would you like to give me the letter?” Reggie asks.

Yes. I’ll tell you anything. But no words leave her throat.

Reggie chuckles and yanks her head back before pulling her toward the bed. She kicks and claws at his arms as he lifts her onto the bed. Her mind wants to shut down from the pain and Arnold is staring at her with eager, beady, rat eyes and the terror is too much to handle, and—

The door swings open. Reggie pauses and drops Lynell onto the bed. It creaks and groans under her weight.

“What are you—” Reggie cuts off and Lynell flinches at the sound of something large slamming into him. He crumples in front of her and she blinks at his body. Blood trickles from a large gash on his head.

Zach stands, half facing Lynell and half facing the door. He’s holding a gun out and he looks at her quickly before turning his attention to the door. “Hurry,” he says.

Lynell looks to a large metal pipe that’s just clattered to the ground. Then her eyes follow a pair of legs until landing on the last face she would have expected.