Holy shit, these must be Gabrielle and Adam’s coats. These had to have belonged to them. This room, this is where Gabrielle and Adam were kept! Now, where is this? Val started to shiver again. The damn room was like a refrigerator. She grabbed the woman’s parka, put it on and moved towards the windows, which were completely boarded shut. Val felt around the edges of the frames hoping she could pull the wood loose. She gripped her fingers underneath and pulled as hard as she could. She gritted her teeth and pulled again but no luck.

How in the hell am I going to get out of here? Val screamed internally as she pulled hard on the wood with each word. Exhausted, she stopped pulling. It was no use. These were not going to budge. Dropping her hands, Val hobbled across the room to the dressers and began opening the drawers. All empty.

She limped back to the bathroom. Pedestal sink. No medicine cabinet. There was nothing in here to use. Val grabbed the shower curtain encircling a claw foot tub. Her eyes locked on the soap and the shampoo bottle and out of sheer delirium she almost laughed out loud. She didn’t need to pick up the bottle to know what it was. She had seen this brand before. Absolute Blonde. There was no doubt now, this is where Gabrielle and Adam were kept before they were killed.

Val made a fist and clenched, opening and closing repeatedly to keep blood flowing. Her fingers were so cold they hurt. And then a thought came, making her forget the pain. How long before whoever put me in here comes back?

She put her hands in the jacket pockets trying to keep them warm. She had to be ready to fight once her kidnapper came for her. As she moved her fingers around, Val felt a rectangular object. She gripped it, her thumb tracing the outline. It can’t be.

She quickly pulled it from the pocket. And stared. It was! A cell phone. Gabrielle’s? The one that was still missing? It didn’t make sense, why leave this here?

The screen was black. Val’s fingers fumbled as she felt for the power button, finally managing to push it. Her hands shook as she waited for some form of life to appear. Come on. Come on, come on, please work. Finally, the screen lit up. And it asked for the passcode. No wonder why someone left this here, it’s useless. Sadistic sick joke, that’s what this is.

“Son of a bitch.” Val was ready to toss the phone against the wall but then she stopped.