ROSALIE's POV
My eyelids felt heavy, like they were glued shut, barely able to stay open against the ache of exhaustion and fear. The stench of damp, rotting concrete filled my lungs with every shallow breath, the scent of decay embedding itself in my senses. My cream-colored dress was stained and dark, turned nearly black from the grime of this place and the countless times I’d been dragged across the dirt-streaked floor. My entire body ached, each bruise and scratch reminding me how far I was from safety.
My wrists were bound tightly to a thick metal column, forcing me to stand even as my head drooped and my legs threatened to give out. Above me, water dripped from a leaky ceiling pipe, its icy touch sliding down my scalp, blending with the growing numbness in my mind.
I felt as thou
