***
Bella woke up slowly, to the sound of water dripping somewhere behind her. Even before her eyes opened properly, she realised where she was immediately.
The dungeons.
The plumbing was old and weak down there, and she had been there enough times to know what it sounded like. It was where Luke brought every new captive he got, and he would keep them there for several weeks sometimes, or at least until their will was broken and he realised that there was no prospect of them ever escaping. Only then would he take them out, and drag them over to Congdon house, where they would remain forever.
Bella remembered quite clearly the first time she was in here. The walls had absorbed her screams, and the darkness had been her companion for so long that it became a part of her. When she open
