Half consciously, she made the sound out loud. “Sssshhhh.” But it was a breath of sound. Less than that. She had to be quiet. He might hear. He might get angry at her. He might change his mind. She kept herself very still and tried to make herself very small. Don’t draw his attention. Don’t give him any reason to change his mind. She’d been lucky so far. Lucky or smart. Because he’d said so, he’d said she was a good girl and so he wouldn’t hurt her. All she had to do was take the medicine and sleep for a while, and then be still and silent for a little bit when she woke up. Count to five hundred when you wake up, he’d said. Count slowly. And when she was done— “—and when you’re done, I’ll be gone. You can move then. You can take off the blindfold. But not until then, you understand? If you move or make a sound before then, I’ll know. And I’ll have to hurt you.” It seemed to take forever to count to five hundred, but finally she got there. Hesitated. And counted to six hundred just to be safe.
