**(Leah"s Perspective)** Time lost all meaning in the basement. A day? Two? The only measure was my increasingly hollow stomach and the deepening pit of despair. The plastic bag with the bread and water had long been empty. I"d rationed carefully, but hunger and thirst eventually overrode panic. Most of the bread was gone; the water bottle was empty. My throat felt scorched. I crawled to the door, pounding on the cold iron with the last of my strength, my voice a ragged whisper. "Water... please... some water..." An eternity passed. I thought they"d left, or I"d become a ghost. Then, with a loud *clang*, the small flap snapped open. A burly man in a black ski mask, only his eyes visible, stared through the opening. Without a word, he shoved two cheap plastic water bottles inside. "Please..
