by J. Thorn
Epilogue
The shackles cut into her wrists like a choke chain around a dog’s neck. She hadn’t yet become accustomed to the dank smell. And she probably never would. Her feet stood flat on the ground—for this much, she was thankful. And even though her hands had been restrained above her head, she had long arms and could look past the slight pain in her shoulder joints as long as she was able to stand.
Somehow, she had managed to keep from crying for several hours. The others continued to bumble with quivering lips, but she had become numb to it all. Crying wasn’t going to get her anywhere.
The blindfold covering her eyes dripped with sweat. At any moment, it could slip off her face, but she wasn’t sure if she wanted that to happen. It was hard for her to imagine that this place would be any more horrifying than the prison inside of her own mind, but it could be. Perhaps none of it mattered.
Nightmares had come and gone. Hallucinations, really, as she hadn’t been able to fall asleep since her arrival. They had been fed only enough food and water to stay alive. Her stomach rumbled and moaned. She could hear the others’, too. She was almost thankful for the lack of food and water, though, as it made her need to use the restroom less.
The sound of her name pulled her out of her thoughts.
“What?”
“How long have we been here now?” the voice asked.
“It doesn’t matter,” one of the others said.
“I’m not sure,” the girl answered. “I’m sorry.”
The boy who’d asked the question coughed. It sickened the girl to hear the thick, infected phlegm in his lungs. He sounded like he was drowning, and then he stopped.
“Are you all right?” the girl asked.
Before the boy could answer, the door to the chamber opened. The prisoners stopped talking—they did this whenever someone entered.
The girl faced forward, clenching her jaw. She curled her toes, feeling the dirt beneath her feet, fighting off the cramps. It was then that her lips trembled, and she groaned as she drew in slow breaths. She closed her eyes and, in her mind, prayed.
God, please be with me. Lord, save my soul and the souls of the others. Please give us the strength to survive.
The sound of stomping boots approached the line of prisoners. The girl hung at the far end of the line, with no one to her left. The prisoners moaned. The girl’s heart thundered a hundred miles per hour in her chest.
One of them had stopped in front of her.
Unlike the others, the girl had refused to give in. She closed her eyes even though they were hidden beneath the blindfold, and she gritted her teeth. This new presence in the room wasn’t going to intimidate her.
“Is this them?” a low, booming voice from the front of the room asked.
A cold hand touched the girl’s wrist. It slid down her arm to her shoulder, and then to her neck. She shook. Her lips quivered, and she couldn’t help but cry.
“Yes,” said the voice. There was something familiar about it.
It can’t be.
The back of his hand slid across her face, the tips of his fingers slipping under the blindfold. The girl turned her head to try and keep him from hurting her. He lifted the blindfold.
It had been days since she had been blindfolded. Even the low spark of the candlelight hurt. She barely had the strength to open them, her eyes watering. After she had blinked away the tears, though, she looked at the figure in front of her. The glow of his orange eyes illuminated his face.
“Isaac?”
“Hello, Monica.”
The Final Awakening trilogy concludes with…
Night
Book Three of the Final Awakening Trilogy
Coming September 26th, 2017
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About J. Thorn
J. Thorn is a Top 100 Most Popular Author in Horror, Science Fiction, Action & Adventure and Fantasy (Amazon Author Rank). He has published over one million words and has sold more than 170,000 books worldwide.
He is an official, active member of the Horror Writers Association and a member of the Great Lakes Association of Horror Writers. J. is a contributor to disinformation.com and a staff writer for HeavyPlanet.net as well as a founding board member of the Author Marketing Institute.
For More Information
www.jthorn.net
[email protected]
About Zach Bohannon
Zach Bohannon is a horror, science fiction, and fantasy author. His critically acclaimed post-apocalyptic zombie series, Empty Bodies, is a former Amazon #1 bestseller. He lives in Nashville, Tennessee with his wife, daughter, and German shepherd. He loves hockey, heavy metal, video games, reading, and he doesn’t trust a beer he can see through. He’s a retired drummer, and has had a beard since 2003—long before it was cool.
For More Information
www.zachbohannon.com
[email protected]