[Evelyn’s Pov]

I feel consciousness rushing back to me like a tidal wave, my head throbbing with each pulse of blood through my temples. The cold seeps into my bones before I even open my eyes. Something's wrong. This isn't my bed. This isn't anywhere I recognize.

My eyelids feel like they're weighted with lead as I force them open, blinking against the harsh fluorescent light. The room swims into focus, concrete walls, exposed pipes running along the ceiling, a musty smell that clogs my nostrils.

‘I'm in some kind of basement?’

I try to stand, but something yanks me back with a metallic clank. Looking down, I see a heavy chain attached to a metal cuff around my ankle, the other end bolted securely to the wall.

"What the fuck?" The words scrape out of my dry throat before I can stop them.

That's when I notice her. Rose Harris stands about ten feet away, her back to me as she fiddles with what looks like camera equipment, setting up tripods at different angles around the room. Her auburn hair falls loose down her back, that distinctive Harris family red that I've come to hate so much.

"Oh, you're up?" She turns to face me, and those green eyes lock onto mine with unsettling intensity. "I was starting to worry they’d given you too much."

My mind races, fragments of memory flickering through the fog. The woman with the gun by my car. The black sedan. An injection in my neck.

"Rose?" I manage to croak out, my mouth cotton-dry. "The last thing I remember is getting in the car and then... nothing. Did you drug me?"

She tilts her head, studying me like I'm some fascinating specimen pinned to a board. "Of course I did. Couldn't have you making a scene while I brought you here." She returns to adjusting one of the cameras, checking the viewfinder with methodical precision.

I tug at the chain again, panic rising in my chest. The metal cuff digs into my ankle, already leaving an angry red mark on my skin.

"Why am I here? What is this place?" I look around desperately for anything that might tell me where I am or how to escape. The basement is surprisingly clean for a kidnapping site, almost clinically so. There's a table against one wall with neatly arranged tools I can't quite make out from here.

"This is your home now, Evelyn," Rose says, turning away from the camera to face me fully. Her lips curve into a smile that doesn't reach her eyes. "At least until I get bored with you and decide to end your miserable existence."

"What the fuck?" I gasp, jerking against the chain with enough force to make my ankle burn. "You can't be serious! This is kidnapping!"

Rose laughs, the sound bouncing off the concrete walls like broken glass. “Yes, Evelyn. Very astute of you to notice.”

My heart hammers against my ribs as I scan the room again, searching desperately for anything that might help me. The reality of my situation crashes down on me like a physical weight. I've been drugged, chained, and brought to some unknown location by a girl who's clearly lost her mind.

"Seth will notice I'm gone," I say, trying to keep my voice steady despite the tremor of fear running through me. "He'll call the police."

Rose approaches me slowly, each step deliberate as she closes the distance between us. She crouches down, just out of my reach, her green eyes studying me with clinical detachment.

"I'm counting on it," she says, her lips curling into a predatory smile. "You think this is the end of my plan?"

Before I can process her words, Rose whips out something from behind her back, a screwdriver, its metal gleaming under the harsh light. In one swift motion, she plunges it into my thigh.

White-hot pain explodes through my leg. I scream, the sound tearing from my throat as she yanks the tool back out. Blood immediately soaks through my jeans, spreading in a dark stain across the fabric.

"This is just the beginning," Rose says, examining the bloodied screwdriver with an unhinged fascination. Her green eyes glitter with something primal and terrifying. "I'm stealing everything from you. Next, I can eliminate Christopher."

Despite the searing pain radiating from my wound, her words cut deeper than any blade could.

"NO!" I shriek, lunging forward only to be yanked back by the chain. "You can't hurt Christopher! He's just a child!"

Rose's expression shifts, confusion flashing across her face. She tilts her head, looking at me like I've completely misunderstood something obvious.

"I'm not going to hurt Chris," Rose says, her brow furrowing as if I've completely misunderstood her intentions. "I simply need to give Christopher a loving family. That will free Seth from responsibility."

My mind reels at her words. The pain in my thigh throbs with each heartbeat, but it's her casual mention of taking Chris that makes me feel like I'm drowning.

"You can't take him," I gasp, pressing my hand against my wound to slow the bleeding. "He's not yours to take."

Rose ignores me, turning away with an eerie calmness that makes my skin crawl. She walks to a metal drawer against the far wall and yanks it open, rummaging through its contents. After a moment, she pulls out a roll of gauze and some medical tape.

She tosses them at me, the supplies landing just within my reach. "Clean yourself up," she says dismissively. "I'll be back to give you food later."

I clutch the gauze, my fingers trembling as I try to process what's happening. The screwdriver wound isn't deep enough to be life-threatening, but it hurts like hell and keeps bleeding.

"So what is this?" I ask, my voice shaking with pain and anger as I press the gauze against my thigh. "You and your sister are just going to torture me? Is that your plan?"

Something flickers across Rose's face, annoyance, maybe, or impatience. She stops at the foot of a wooden staircase I hadn't noticed before.

"My sister's a lot of things," she says, her voice suddenly softer, almost reflective, "but torture doesn't suit her. She doesn't even know you're here."

Before I can respond, Rose ascends the stairs, her footsteps echoing on the wooden steps. A door creaks open at the top, letting in a brief flash of natural light before slamming shut with a finality that makes my heart sink.

I am alone.