Denise had spent a tormented night. She had squirmed and struggled with the straps around her legs. Her ability to adjust her sleeping pose was limited to the shifting of her head from side to side. Her arms, held taut behind her, felt useless, not really part of her anymore. She had cried a while after the old lady had left and then drifted off to fitful sleep. When her natural urge to adjust her body during sleep came, she awoke with a start, frustrated and surprised to find herself bound, cocoon-like, and resident in a dingy basement cell. Her helplessness was like a virus, making her stomach swirl and her head ache. When she slept, she dreamt of the harsh but compelling man who had made her his prisoner.
The presence of the old woman made her circumstances seem surreal. What twisted m
