I stumbled to my feet. “Thank you, Miss Danielle.” Dani stood up and walked over to me before leaning up and giving me a kiss on the cheek. It was the closest thing to positive reinforcement I had experienced in weeks and I couldn’t help but tear up. Candice quickly ended what little contentment I felt with a swift punch to my junk. “Go to your room dog.”

I did as I was told.

Slowly but surely the exercise room came to include a mattress, a television, and access to the locked door which turned out to be a small bathroom. The random application of the shock collar and the verbal abuse became such a common occurrence that I had all but grown accustomed to it. If I behaved and I was quiet, they’d leave me alone for longer periods of time. This continued until I had been in captivity for nearly two months when I took advantage of Danielle coming into my room alone and tried to escape.

I had been working up the nerve for days. My mind constantly flashed to the blood on the basement floor and in my heart of hearts, I knew I wasn’t going to survive the ordeal just by doing as I was told. Danielle came in for her daily round of cheerful compliments and expected adoration when I noticed her thumb wasn’t on the button and I lunged at her. I slammed her against the hard concrete wall and snatched up the remote before running out of the room. I knew I didn’t have long. There were cameras in the room and they had been sure to shock me every single time I even remotely moved my hands toward my neck. I knew they would be coming and I couldn’t risk it. I ran into the kitchen and toward the back door. It was locked. I moved to the window over the kitchen sink and slammed my fists against it. It wouldn’t break. Frantic, I turned toward the main hallway and sprinted toward the front door. In two months I hadn’t been in this part of the house. They could come out from anywhere. I moved toward the huge oak door and turned the knob only to feel the shock as I fell to the floor. As I convulsed I struggled to look up and saw Candice holding a second remote. Dani emerged from the back of the house with blood coming from her busted lip and kicked me in the ribs as Candice left her hand on the button.