Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 80940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
When will this nightmare end?
Darkness and cold has tortured me.
I can’t remember anything.
He’s coming.
His footsteps echo like a wrecking ball in my head.
He’s getting closer.
Breathe.
He’s almost here.
I must escape.
He’s here.
Breath tickles my face.
With what little strength I have, I find my way to the sunlight.
Tortured moans become more distant.
Run faster.
I drop with exhaustion.
Did I make it far enough?
I’m being lifted.
Warmth engulfs me.
Please let this be my savior and not my captor.
Amnesia is a stand alone novel.
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
PROLOGUE
Mallory
I opened my eyes to the darkness yet again. The cold, damp room only contained the mattress I was sitting on, and it smelled foul, like a rusty tang of blood. This darkness had been my tortured existence for the last two days. The small beam of light that trickled down from a crack in the boards above was my only sign of when night falls and day begins.
The echo of footsteps walking over the floor above signaled he was coming back. I crawled into the corner and waited as my heart raced faster at the sound of the slow creak of the door.
My throat tightened as he walked into the room. I can’t see him, even with the bit of light coming in through the open door, but I know it’s him. I felt his evil presence, and I fought to keep from throwing up.
I flinched as his fingers run lightly down my face. He sucked in a deep breath and let out a low moan.
“Soon. I’m going to have you soon.”
Pushing his hand away, somewhere I found the courage and yelled, “Don’t touch me!”
Bile rose from my stomach and adrenaline coursed through my body as the sound of his haunting laugh filled the small space.
That laugh would forever plague my dreams—even if I managed to somehow escape this prison.
I reached behind me for the item I’d been working on getting free for the last two days. With a tight grip, I forced myself to focus on the shadow before me—and swung it with every ounce of energy I could muster.
CHAPTER ONE
Mallory
Chicago, One Week Ago
I sighed as I stepped onto the elevator. Another job interview that didn’t go well.
“Rough day?”
Turning, I gave a weak smile to the woman slightly behind me.
“Yes,” I said as I pushed the button for the first floor. “Job hunting.”
“Ahh, that’s never a fun thing.”
I let out a humorless laugh. “Nope, definitely not.”
The elevator stopped on the third floor, and I stepped out of the way for her to get off when she announced it was her stop.
“Good luck. I hope you find a job soon.”
“Thank you,” I said as I returned her smile. Once the doors closed, I stepped back and leaned against the wall. Speaking quietly to the walls of the elevator, I reminded myself, “If I don’t find a job soon, I’ll have to return to Arcola and work at Yoder’s Kitchen.”
The elevator dinged, and I stepped off and headed out of the building. Tomorrow I was going to the employment agency to see if I could at least find some temporary work. I couldn’t keep staying at the motel. I had the rest of the money from selling my grandmother’s house, but not enough that would allow me to keep paying for a motel room. I needed to find a studio apartment or find a roommate or something soon.
“What would you say, Granny, if you saw me now? I’m following my dreams of leaving Arcola and making something of myself in the big city of Chicago. And it’s going amazingly well, if I do say so myself.” The sarcasm in my voice wasn’t even lost on me.
I chuckled as I walked down the street to the bus stop. My grandmother, Elenore Wilson, raised me after my mother and father died in a car accident when I was five. I loved her more than anything. She was the only family I had. My father was adopted, so he hadn’t known his biological family, and my mom was an only child. My parents had moved to Chicago after marriage, leaving my grandmother back in Arcola. She’d refused to leave the small town, so I had no choice but to go to her. By the time I had moved in with Granny, her oldest sister was the only one left alive. Nora had never married and didn’t have any kids. Once she passed away, a year before Granny, there was no family left—just the two of us.
So when my grandmother passed in her sleep nearly ten months ago, I knew I had to go and start my life. I sold the house, everything inside, and the few personal items I wanted to keep, I packed away and put them in storage nearly four weeks ago and moved to Chicago.
I had no one now. Even my best friend, Laura, had moved four years ago. She’d met someone, and we slowly lost contact with one another. She didn’t even know Granny had died and that I had moved.
The bus came, and I waited in line to board and take a seat. Dropping my head back, I closed my eyes and silently prayed tomorrow went well with the employment agency. I really needed a job.
“Good evening, Mallory.”
I walked up to the counter of the small deli where I had been eating practically every day and smiled at Jack, the owner. He was older, maybe in his early sixties, with salt-and-pepper hair, beautiful blue eyes, and a smile that made you all warm inside. He ran the deli with his wife, Jen, and their kids. They had one daughter, Sheila, and two sons, Adam and Lou—both of whom had asked me out at least once.