always,
Mary Alford
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
—Psalm 23:4
For my brother, Leon, who passed away May 4, 2019. Leon was a minister, a chaplain for the Texas State Guard, a constable and a man of God who touched so many lives. Mine especially.
Contents
Note to Readers
Her memory before waking up in the basement the night before was blank. Her head ached. Vision blurred. Dried blood caked the makeshift bandage secured around her head. She was completely at her kidnapper’s mercy. And he had none.
Thinking clearly with her heart threatening to explode from her chest was nearly impossible, but she had to try.
Her hands were zip-tied in front of her body. Beneath her, the cold of the cement floor seeped deep into her limbs. She was tethered to a support beam by a rope around her ankle.
He’d blindfolded her, but she’d pulled it free the second he was gone. She’d been in and out of consciousness most of the day, her body broken from the things he’d put her through.
The room was dark now. A twelve-by-twelve-inch window displayed the blackness of the night outside.
Through the drilling pain in her head, a niggling of something far more terrifying was just out of her reach. A nightmare waiting to be revealed. Last night, when she’d awakened to find the monster standing over her, she thought she’d heard another woman scream. Her stomach clenched. She prayed it was but a hallucination.
“Is anyone there?” Her frightened voice echoed through the basement and received no answer.
As hard as she tried, she couldn’t remember anything from her past beyond waking up in this basement to him. Not how she’d come to be here, or what she’d been doing before he took her. Nothing. Yet one thing was clear. Without help, she would not walk out of this basement alive.
Outside, a car slowed. The garage door chugged up and fear spiraled throughout her body. He was home.
Somewhere in the house, a door opened. Closed. Her heart pumped fear-induced adrenaline through her body as footsteps approached upstairs.
Light crept in from above and terror
