Hold My Hand (Sequel to Saved: Adopted by Brendon Urie)

Chapter 28

By the afternoon, Abby had stopped trying to guess what time it was.

The room had changed with the light.

That was all she had.

Morning had been grey and pale through the strange film covering the window. Now the light had shifted, warmer and brighter, though she still couldn't see anything beyond the glass.

She had eaten some of the lunch.

Not much.

Enough that the woman would stop telling her she needed to eat.

Abby had discovered that was easier.

She'd also discovered that the woman always closed the door behind her.

Always.

And every time the lock clicked, Abby's stomach tightened.

She was beginning to hate that sound.

Click.

A tiny sound.

A final sound.

She sat cross-legged on the bed, staring at the floor.

She was exhausted.

Her head hurt.

Her shoulders ached from being tense for so long.

Every muscle in her body seemed to be waiting for something.

A noise.

A door.

Footsteps.

The woman.

Someone else.

She had begun to understand that silence wasn't really silence.

There were sounds beyond the room.

Pipes.

Water.

A cupboard opening.

Traffic somewhere outside.

Once, she had heard a man's voice.

She hadn't understood what he said.

But she knew it had been a man.

And now she was listening again.

At first, she heard nothing.

Then—

The front door opened.

Abby's head snapped up.

Voices.

More than one.

Her heart immediately began pounding.

She climbed off the bed and crossed the room without making a sound.

She pressed her ear against the door.

The voices were muffled.

A man.

The woman.

Another voice.

A second man?

Abby couldn't tell.

She held her breath.

"...police..."

Her eyes widened.

She couldn't hear the rest.

The woman's voice became sharper.

Then the first man's voice.

"How much do they know?"