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Cave
by Leigh M. Lane

I thought the night would never end. I couldn’t decide which had been worse, the cold or the darkness. Both had been blinding. My arms had gone painfully stiff, knots of sharp, itchy twine binding my wrists behind a support beam and biting into my skin. I sat on the concrete floor, my ankles crossed in front of me, shivering past a denim miniskirt. I couldn’t recall how I’d gotten here, nor how long, as time relative to my imprisonment meant nothing until the first hints of dawn filtered through the warped, weathered windows.

I’d been working on the twine for hours when I caught sight of the first person to pass by outside. From what I could see, the person had a large frame, but the windows obscured and distorted my view into mere shadows devoid of specific features. I thought to scream for help, but fear of inadvertently calling out to my kidnapper instead had me fixed into a state of frozen indecision.

I waited for someone to come inside, every possible scenario culminating in my mind into a deluge of torture and death. Why was I here? What did they want? In silence, I waited… and waited.

Another shadow came into view, met by another. Was salvation just beyond the warehouse wall, or was it possible I had more than one kidnapper? I didn’t dare chance it.

My fingers went numb as I worked the twine loose enough to slip past one hand, and the ensuing slack offered just enough room for me to twist away from my binds. Finally free, I massaged my bruised wrists and agitated muscles, surveying the exits. I could see that at least one person was outside, possibly covering one of the doors. I couldn’t tell if anyone was watching the door on the other side, as the early evening dusk had begun to darken the eastern sky. My hesitancy to move only grew with the shadows. I waited.

And now it’s dark and I’m shivering and my cheeks are raw from hours of silent tears. I consider making a run for it.

But I’m too afraid to move.

Fiction © Copyright Leigh M. Lane
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com

More from Leigh M. Lane:

Finding Poe: Special Edition

Finding Poe is a riddle to be solved, and this edition caters to those who feel up to the task. If you’re a Poe fan, you’ll already know he was the father of the deductive detective story. Many scholars will argue that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes series was inspired by Poe’s Detective Dupin stories.

This book asks the reader to assume the hat of the deductive detective. Throughout the text, there are numerous clues to direct the reader toward an alternate speculation about Poe’s untimely death. Before you set out to solve the riddle, however, you must first find the question….

About the story: When reality and fiction collide, there’s no telling what horrors might ensue.

In the wake of her husband’s haunted death, Karina must sift through the cryptic clues left behind in order to solve the mystery behind his suicide–all of which point back to the elusive author, Edgar Allan Poe.

Karina soon finds that reality, dream, and nightmare have become fused into one as she journeys from a haunted lighthouse in New England to Baltimore, where the only man who might know the answers to her many questions resides.

But will she find her answers before insanity rips her grip on reality for good? Might a man she’s never met hold the only key to a truth more shocking than even she could have imagined?

Finding Poe was a 2013 EPIC Awards finalist in Horror.

“Atmospheric, lush, and lyrical, Leigh M. Lane’s Finding Poe is a haunting Gothic novel which will delight anyone familiar with the works of Edgar Allan Poe, as well as anyone who enjoys an evocative and classic tale of terror.” –horror/mystery author Dana Fredsti.

Available on Amazon!