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But trying to stand on aboat after you’d been head-butted by a two-hundred-pound asshole with a lead skull was like trying to ride a bike blindfolded through six inches of mud

The boat hit a patch of cal I knew I’d have only a second before he checked on ed just as he turned

The boat dipped in the front as it caht into his open arlided to a s sun blinded me for a second as it sank down into the black horizon of the shi river and the swa to miss dinner with Sebastian and the kids Funny, the bizarre thoughts that go through your one bad, theJosephine, today had been one of the best days of my life because of Sebastian Until souy shovedordeal I landed hard on the blue turf, scratchingthe riritted teeth, rubbing the back ofprobably equally as impressive and then tossed my backpack onto the dock, tied the boat, and reached for round, I said a prayer of thanks, wanting nothing more than to just be still until my body adjusted to the solid surface, but Leadhead was already pulling limpse of our destination

I sturove of old live oaks wearing Spanish hosts, was a massive plantation house All alone In the middle of the swamp, set on a manicured lawn like soe The scent of river and coastal mud was thick, but tempered by the breeze off the water and the chill that cas croaked and katydids sang

The house had a long second-story balcony and thick white colurounds

A few dihts lit the tall, shutter-framed s

As we crossed onto the lawn,in sand My mind raced with escape plans and questions, but there was no point in asking , since he didn’t seelish And as we drew closer to the house, I wasn’t sure if I could speak The house took raceful, but it seemed to bleed emotions Sadness Loneliness Like a beautiful lady left alone in a sea of gray, green, and black, protected only by oak matrons in their skeleton shawls

We crossed the first-floor porch to the front door Inside, the area was lit by a large chandelier that hung in the foyer

Deserted and diner’s dream Our wet, ht past a grand curving staircase and toward the back of the house He nudged ht, to a door that led beneath the staircase

He spoke a fehispered words, shovingstairwell lit with old iron lanterns So down Iht have been built on a patch of solid ground, but even that was sinking, like everything in and around New 2

My pulse hiked as I saw the walls, e leaked froh the stones wept black tears The place gave ive way and the dark water and swamp creatures would come in and reclai corridor We had to be two stories under now, and the weight above us, the idea that everything around us existed on soft mud and swamp, made et out of here Now Before the claustrophobiastupid

My captor shoved me down the corridor Lanterns lit on their own as ent, as if bycells Cells Cells with fronts of thick iron bars covered in crust and cobwebs The interiors were black And the s Far beyond human stench and waste to unbreathable

My stoave a hard push to keepthree times before he jerked me to my feet A fine sheen of cold sweat covered my skin, and my throat burned with bile

Four cells in, he stopped and opened one

"No," I started in a s in his ar to hiers Tears ran downon for dear life and hi he could to pullwords fast and shaky and desperate

There was no fucking way I could go in there No way Please, God, no!

Finally he succeeded asme into the cell I fell onto my rear The door slammed shut There was sli as I crawled to the door and grabbed on to the bars, screa after him

"Don’t leave me! Please!"

As he left, each lantern blinked out

My nose grew stuffy The tears continued hot and fast down ainst the bars, desperate to hold on to the light, to see the light "Please"

And then there was nothing but velvet blackness and silence