ANGEL Darkness was all there was at first, thick and heavy, pressing against my eyes like something that wanted inside. My eyes fluttered open groggily, weakly adjusting to my surroundings. A ceiling first, pale and unremarkable. A lamp on a bedside table, bookshelves against one wall, lined up neatly and orderly, and finally, curtains drawn tight over a window that might have shown me what time it was if I could have seen through them. A bedroom. I was tied to a bed in someone’s bedroom. Then the pain came—starting in my wrists where rope bit into raw skin with every breath I took, spreading through my shoulders that had locked up from being held in the same position for too long, settling deep into my jaw where someone had stuffed fabric between my teeth. It tasted like dust and sweat and fear, gagging me, stealing my voice before I even had a chance to use it. I tried to scream anyway, but the sound died in my throat and all I could do was thrash against whatever was holding m
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