CHAPTER 64 - Molly

CHAPTER 64Molly“MELINDA?”My eyes slit open. I’ve been sitting here all day, huddled in the blankets, watching the faint light in the far window dim until it disappeared, thinking, crying, trying to figure out how to get out of here.“Melinda?”Keith? My stomach drops. How can that be? He’s in prison. He can’t get out. It’s my imagination. Thoughts of Keith Russell have flitted through my mind all day, despite my efforts to keep them at bay. It’s as though he inhabits the mold and decay in this basement, caught here like a demon spirit.“Answer me, little girl.” His voice sing-songs.I stay quiet in the dark, leaning against the wall. My heart thumps so heavily my body shakes with each pulse.“Melinda?”I hear the ladder scrape against the floor above.“I just want to talk. For now,” he says.It sounds like Keith, but not. Someone else. Someone familiar. I hear his footfalls slap against the ladder steps. I hear him advance toward me across the cement floor. A flashlight beam sweeps the basement, blinding me, then he switches it off. Despite the cold, sweat drips down my back.He’s next to me now, breathing heavily, sitting beside me like two people just hanging out. I want to tear at him, fight my way out, but what will that get me? I close my eyes to push back tears and hope I don’t have a heart attack from sheer terror. Does that really happen?“Let’s talk,” he whispers. “But don’t scream. It’s not worth the effort. Have you tried that already? I bet you did, and no one came, did they? Just like before. This whole street is deserted. This is an old row house. The whole neighborhood is going to be demolished soon. But it’s perfect for us.”His voice. I know him. He’s sitting so close to me my shoulder touches his arm. I start to hyperventilate and have to talk myself down. I can do this. I can survive—again.He clutches my chin and turns my face toward him. Through the darkness, my eyes meet his, and my heart seems to drop out of my chest. My captor is my friend.