The Guest House Hauntings Boxset by Hazel Holmes (novel books to read txt) 📕

and hacked, a burning sensation in her eyes and throat, as she scrambled to her hands and knees.

Muscles trembling, she managed to push herself off of all fours but only made three steps before crashing back down in a fit of coughing, her eyes stinging as she tried to escape the cloud of pepper spray that had enveloped them both.

Tears and snot oozed from her orifices, and she tried to wipe away the residue with her thick jacket sleeve.

Something knocked against her foot and then clamped down on her ankle. Still blind, Sarah glanced behind her as the pair of meaty hands pulled her back.

“You shouldn’t have done that!” Dennis backhanded Sarah’s face, and the harsh slap briefly replaced the pain of the pepper spray.

Sarah cracked open her eyes, and through blurry, tear-soaked slits, she saw Dennis reach for something in his pocket, which he then jammed into her arm.

The tiny pinprick was followed by a dull, numbing sensation. The pain faded and she sunk deep into unconsciousness, the world black and empty.

It was the burning that awoke Sarah from the drugged slumber, residue from the pepper spray. She gagged, tasting the gritty fabric of the dirty rag taped over her mouth. Disoriented and groggy from whatever Dennis had fed her, the world around her was still slightly blurred. But it wasn’t until she tried to lift her arm and remove the gag that she realized she was tied down.

Restraints kept her hands tied behind her back, and her legs were bound at the ankles. And when she glanced down at her own body, she found that Dennis had stripped her down to her shirt and underwear.

With the lingering burn from the pepper spray still in her eyes, she glanced around to try and get her bearings. It was dark, no lights on, and at first she saw only oddly shaped silhouettes that lined the walls. As her eyes adjusted, she saw that she was in a room with no windows, and a single door to her left.

Having found the one exit point, Sarah scanned the room once more in search of anything that could help her escape and found a few boxes in the far back left corner of the room.

The chair itself wasn’t tied down, and the surface was smooth enough to scoot across.

Sarah pressed her toes onto the cold concrete floor and pushed. The chair wobbled, but she didn’t move forward. She tried again, this time rocking the chair harder, and nearly crashed to the concrete, but she remained upright and found that she had moved forward an inch.

Hope swelled in her chest, and she repeated the motion, the progress slow but steady. By the time she passed the halfway mark, she had worked herself into a rhythm, and all her focus was on the boxes. Every inch gained added to the momentum for the next push.

The slow progression toward freedom reflected her life for the past week. All of that time on the road, all of those nights she had gone to sleep unsure of if Brent would find her in the darkness to kill her had transformed into a rage that burned like fire.

Every aspect of her life, every memory she could recall, had been born from some type of struggle. It was as if she had always been tied to that chair, forced to crawl forward one inch at a time until she could reach the box that offered her freedom. Whether it was a job, a car, or an apartment, there was always something that she eyed on the horizon. Something just out of reach.

Less than a foot separated Sarah from the box. And then she heard the echo of footsteps. She froze, turning back around toward the door, and then hastened her approach toward the box.

Keys jangled outside the door and then scraped into the lock. Before Sarah could reach the box, the hinges groaned as the door opened.

“Hey!” Three quick steps and hands pulled Sarah back from the boxes, erasing all of her effort in seconds.

Sarah screamed into the gag, the hope deflating with her dying voice. Even when Dennis stepped around to face Sarah, she kept her eyes fixated on the boxes.

Dennis laughed as he shook his head. “You trying to escape?” He straightened up and walked over to the corner. He picked it up the box in front effortlessly and then flipped it upside down, sending balled-up pieces of paper to the floor.

Sarah went numb.

Dennis tossed the box aside and flattened the paper balls as he walked back over to Sarah. He leaned over with his hands on his knees and brought his face within inches of hers. “You’re here to stay, Sarah. Don’t you understand that?” Slowly, he lifted his hand and ran his finger along her cheek. The tip was callused and rough, scratching a bright-red line from her cheekbone to jawline. “You’re so important.” A tone of childlike wonder returned, and he lingered close to her face.

Finally, he backed away and then reached into his pockets, a light jingle sounding, no doubt from the keys he carried around, and she wondered how many times the creep had been into her room.

“You found something that you weren’t supposed to see,” Dennis said. “If you had just done your job and kept your nose out of business that doesn’t concern you, then you could have had a little more freedom before the ceremony, but now I’ll have to keep you down here.”

Sarah pinched her eyebrows together, unsure what “ceremony” meant to the cretin staring down at her.

“I’ll bring you food and water,” Dennis said, addressing Sarah like a mongrel dog. “And try not to mess yourself until I can figure out an arrangement for you to go to the bathroom. But don’t worry.” He smiled and ran his fingers through her hair. “It won’t be much longer now.”

Dennis slammed the door shut and locked it behind him, his footsteps fading.

Sarah shivered, pulling her body inward and