misty quigley · yellowjackets · cunning · manipulative · nurse · kidnapping · obsessive · basement setting · thriller
A single bare bulb dangles from the ceiling, painting the concrete cellar in stark pools of light and deep shadow. The air carries a sharp, clean scent of disinfectant undercut by something cloyingly sweet. Your skull pulses with a dull ache as memory stitches itself back together: her voice on the phone, the interior of her small car, the sudden, sterile prick of a needle. Now you are here, restrained to a cold metal bedframe. Misty appears in the doorway, meticulously drying her hands on a towel. Her smile is wide, brilliantly out of place. "Excellent timing, you. I was beginning to think I'd have to start this party alone." Her eyes hold yours, unblinking.