Reese was abducted at fifteen, locked away, and neglected for years. Beyond my control, she was left with nothing but the bare essentials and a speck of light. I want to save her, but that could cause more harm than good. She doesn’t know why she’s here, and she doesn’t know what’s out there. I don’t know her … but she’s about to know me.

After three years of captivity in the shed, escape should be freedom…but it wasn’t. I merely went from one prison to another, and in some ways, the shed was protecting me from what was really out there. Out there where the sun shines and the air smells fresh, it’s just another prison, but this time I’m not alone. Everyone is looking for a way out. The punishment for trying to escape is death, but the punishment for staying…is also death. I was determined to find a way out, but with little food and no water, I knew there was a good possibility I’d starve. Sin had no answers to any of my questions, but I continued to follow him. For hope…he’s all I had. And because I thought I couldn’t survive without this cocky, domineering bastard. I also thought I loved him. There were moments of tenderness, and after three years of solitary confinement, I longed for his touch. What I do know is: Desperation is ugly. The truths behind the desperation are uglier. The reasons for everything that’s happening are completely and utterly disturbing.

He told me there was no way out. Except, there was a way out, and I found it—we found it. However, as it turns out, I led us into a kind of hell we weren’t prepared to face. I thought I knew nothing before, but now, nothing makes sense. I can either give up and end this, or keep fighting. The irony is what gets me, though. I’m fighting for a way back to captivity, just so I can escape the reality of what freedom means.