Chapter 51 - Esteban

I come awake all at once, screaming for my mother, tears immediately falling from my eyes. “Mama!”

It takes a few seconds for things to come into focus and for me to understand what is happening. I’m in a cell, cuffed in silver to the wall by my wrists and a chain around my neck. There is enough slack in the chains that I can use the bucket that they’ve set beside me for a bathroom and to a small cot for a bed. There’s a single window up high on the wall, but it’s so high and so small there’s no point in trying to get to it.

There’s also a single, bare light bulb in the room that while make it so that we can see at night, but there’s no way for me to turn on the light from the inside, meaning I’m at the mercy of my captors for even light to see by. And right now, the night sky is overcast and and the light is off.

The place smells rank, like piss, mold, and the incense of the Riding Hoods. But as I’m waking up more, I’m getting another scent, that of orange and honeysuckle.