A Mouse in the Trap

Only after she managed to calm herself down did Yohana begin to take a look at her grim surroundings.

The memories flooded back, and Yohana recalled the moment she had opened the door in the floor. Just as she was swinging it open, a brutal blow had landed on the back of her head.

Her trembling hand reached for the source of pain, feeling the dampness of some lingering liquid. The touch sent shivers down her spine, realizing that it was her own blood.

Carefully, she scanned her confined space, starting from the hay-strewn ground she sat on. Hay was strewn about haphazardly, pushed aside in her earlier frantic struggle. Underneath, she could make out a floor made of hard bricks. 

The cold was biting. Yohana hastily pulled the hay closer, trying to shield herself from the chilly touch of the unforgiving brick beneath her.