36. Lone Encounter

(Quinn's POV)

As my eyes flutter open, I am brought away from the serenity of my dream and into the reality of pain. Every bone in my body aches. As I pull my hand to my head to brush my hair away from my face, my fingers feel something cold and metallic around my neck. They fucking put a collar on me? I try to pull it off, and I am instantly hit with a jolt of electricity that courses through my body. I fall onto my back, my body shakes uncontrollably, and it feels like I have been hit by a Taser.

I don’t know how long I am unable to move for, but when I eventually stop shaking, every muscle in my body aches, like I have had a hard session at the gym. I pull myself towards the wall and move into a sitting position, while I wait for the effects of the collar to fully wear off. As I look at my surroundings, I can’t help but feel deflated.

The cold, hard floor and steel bars of the cell remind me of my old cage in the laundry room of the university halls. Unlike the old times, thou