500 Roses

Prologue

"Keep breathing" I repeatedly tell myself, concentrating on the air expanding my lungs before quickly releasing it. This would not be a good time to hyperventilate and pass out. Not that it has happened before but now is definitely not a time to try it. I attempt to convince my wandering mind that everything is fine, that I'm going to make it out of this mess... Alive.
But everything is certainly not fine.

I glance around at my surroundings and allow a small sigh to spill past my lips. Everything is dark but I can barely make out the rock walls that enclose me and the metal gate locked shut with a padlock. I close my eyes tightly hoping that when I open them again, I'll be back at home tucked into my comfortable queen sized bed.

Maybe this is just a very sick dream.

Nope.
Wishful thinking...

Once again I let out a sigh, trying my best to not break out in tears. Now is not the time to be weak, I have to be strong.
Strong. Strong. Strong.
The word echoes in my head giving me a headache.

"Okay Thea," I mumble to myself, "let's figure out a way out of here." My eyes quickly scan my surroundings once again, looking for any escape. What the hell am I trying to find? I am stuck in a rock cell, trapped in by a metal gate. There is no escape. My heart drops when I come to this realization and I think I'm about to cry. I think about my family, my two best friends, and my pets. A slight smile creeps onto my face as I remember galloping across the field on my horse with my best friends, just hours before IT happened.

A sudden sound jolts me back to reality. A faint jingling of keys. I know who the person is deep in my gut. The stranger that kept sending me white roses and strange notes. Fear reverberates through my frozen body like electricity. Soft footsteps echo in the cave as a suck in my breath and wipe away a single tear. Okay, I am ready to face my demon.