To minimize any damage the fall might cause, Rose tucked her body and rolled with the landing, coming up on her feet.
Because she knew that someone might not have gotten bored watching her tumble, she didn't allow herself even a second to catch her breath. Instead, she lined up with the door once again, and then took off for it.
Repeating the same moves that had gotten her up to the vent before, Rose sailed effortlessly up to the vent, grabbing hold of it, and once again using her body’s momentum, only this time to swing her legs up so she could crawl into the vent.
Feeling as though eyes were on her, she turned and looked at the camera, giving a little wave.
Run, run, as fast as you can. You can't catch me I'm the ladybug girl.
If she was being watched, she didn't have long to make this work. Already, Mr. Bedroom Man and his buddies would be figuring out how to catch her, and she had no intention of letting them.
Shifting her weight so she could squeeze through the vent that was barely big enough to fit her body, and thankfully way too small to fit any of her captors, Rose heard an ominous creak.
The ceiling seemed to creak and shift beneath her.
Damn, girl, how do you have the world’s worst luck?
That was her last thought before she was once again falling toward the hard concrete ground, only this time she wasn't alone.
An entire concrete ceiling seemed to be coming down with her.
How the hell was she supposed to survive this?
It wasn't the fall that would kill her, break an arm or a leg possibly, but nothing more serious than that, she just wasn't high enough. But the concrete that was plummeting alongside her could easily crush her like the bug Mr. Bedroom Man kept calling her.
Unsure what her best move was, and with only split seconds before she hit the ground, it had to have been some sort of instinct that had her turning so she’d land on her front. That way, she could curl into a ball and try to do her best to protect her head and vital organs from the worst of the fall.
It wasn’t likely to change anything.
Especially since the universe seemed to hate her.
But at least it was something.
Pain ricocheted up her wrists and knees as they took the brunt of the fall. There was no time to worry about it, because already the concrete was raining down around her.
In the end, Rose had no idea if she managed to roll up in a ball and try to protect her body, because something connected with her head, and it was lights out for her.
With a groan, she swam back to consciousness sometime later.
Why aren't I dead?
That was her first thought, and she wasn't proud of it, but who could really blame her for wishing for death over being a plaything to a bunch of psycho men who were stupid enough to believe her brother would ever care about anyone but himself?
They’d plucked her from the quiet, safe little life she’d carved out for herself, and thrown her back into a hell she’d barely survived once before.
A hell she didn't want to battle through again.
No one could blame her for that, right? She was so exhausted from fighting every day just to survive, only to end up with nothing to show for it. Nobody was going to miss her, her clients would just be angry, thinking she ghosted them, her community, which she stayed on the fringes of, would brand her a scammer. She wasn't even leaving behind a pet that would mourn her.
Nothing.
Rose wasn't sure if it was the pain swamping her body, the growing sense of claustrophobia, or her own frustration with herself and her choices that had nausea swelling in her stomach.
Bile burned her throat as her stomach determined it must empty itself, and she was eternally grateful that nothing much was in there to come up. Coughing and gagging until her stomach cramped, and tears leaked from the corners of her eyes, when it finally stopped, she tried to turn her head the other way, away from the bile she’d just vomited up, but there was nowhere to go.
She couldn’t even turn her head.
Slowly, she became more aware of the pressure against her entire body. The entire ceiling had come down with her, and now it was pinning her in place.
