Alice
Brighton, UK
In the corner of the room, Alice sat with her legs pulled snugly against her chest and cowered with her face resting on her knees. She’d lost all track of time, uncertain if the sun shined brightly outside her room or the moon revealed its crater-like faces. The black-grey light kept her out of touch with what was happening in her normal world.
She tried to blank out the sound of music filtering through the doorframe. The prisoner next door had not been returned. Or had her sense of time deceived her? She could drive herself mad with the constant fretting and predictions of whether she’d be chosen next. She kept asking herself where the prisoner was. Had she been placed in another room? Or worse…had they killed her?
A slight sound broke her self-induced trance. A muffled humming droned faintly at her door. Perfume wafted over her…his cologne. Or had she imagined it? Was he wavering outside her door, contemplating whom he’d use as his next toy?