“H-he wouldn’t.”

“He would, he would.” This man looked so unbelievably happy it was making me sick.

The room was dim, but it wasn’t gloomy enough that I couldn’t see that my surroundings were spinning.

Suddenly, my wrists were released; however, they weren’t free for long. I shuddered when I felt something cold slide around them.

I tried to draw them away from the wall, but I was instead ended up futilely tugging at a huge chain.

“What could I possibly give you?” I rasped, still trying to get my hands free and away from the shiver-inducing shackles.

“Ha! Don’t play dumb, girl – you heard me. Your pretty little shoulders have quite a bounty resting on them.”

I felt the hairs on my neck stand up as goosebumps ran across the length of my arms and legs.

“They won’t let you,” I said, offering a feeble resistance.

“Who, your parents?” he let out a harsh, grating peal of laughter. “They let me do a lot of things, didn’t they?”

And then, all the meager light in the room vanished as he shut the door.