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chapter 16

The basement smells like bleach and blood.

I’m chained to the wall.

Day thirty-one.

Vera walks in. White dress. No shoes.

She never wears shoes.

"Sit up," she says.

I don’t move.

She kicks my leg. Not hard. Just enough.

I sit.

She drops a photo on the floor.

Man. Dark hair. Dark eyes. Suit.

"Who is that."

I stare at it.

"I don’t know."

"Wrong." She crouches. Taps the photo. "His name is Ryan Volkov."

I say nothing.

"He’s the reason you’re here." Her voice goes soft. Like she’s telling me a secret. "He hurt someone you love."

"I don’t know him."

"You will." She stands. "By the time I’m done, you’ll know exactly what he took from you."

She sets a knife on the tray. Bread. Water.

"Eat. Then we practice."

She leaves. Locks the door.

I look at the photo.

Ryan Volkov.

I say the name out loud. Nothing happens. No memory. No hate.

Just a man in a picture.

An hour later she’s back.

Dummy in the corner wears his face now.

"Hit him," she says.

I don’t move.

She pulls a taser from her dress.

I hit the dummy.

"Again."

I hit it.

"Harder."

I think of Ivan. “Meet me at the park, Andie.”

I never made it.

Van. Bag. This basement.

I hit the dummy until my hands bleed.

"Good," Vera says. "You’re learning."

She chains me back up.

"Shower tomorrow. You have a visitor tonight."

"Who."

"Someone who wants to see if you’re ready."

The door shuts.

I look at the photo of Ryan Volkov.

He’s just a target.

Vera needs me to kill him. That’s all.

She doesn’t know about Ivan. Doesn’t know about Marcus. Doesn’t care that I had a sister named Alexis three years ago.

She doesn’t care about me.

She cares that Ryan will look at my face and freeze.

That’s why she took me.

I close my eyes.