tick tock... the droning of the ticking clock that sat on the top of the bookshelf echoed through the room. Emma swallowed, watching as the hands moved to a straight line like a soldier standing at attention. It was six o'clock and time for Penance. Her stomach turned as the sound of heavy footsteps approached. He was, if anything, unfailingly and depressingly punctual. If only she had known the course of her journey six months earlier... Captive in a world without a future, women like Emma Thompson do whatever is necessary to survive. The laws are harsh, and the only means of survival is either conforming to an impossible system or rebelling against it. Emma has been given a choice- homelessness (and eventual incarceration) or move to the Appalachian forests to be a domestic worker for an acquaintance of her vindictive aunt. She chooses the latter: after all, nothing could be worse than being on the streets and losing what little freedom you have to begin with, right? Wrong. After Emma arrives to the isolated cabin home of Professor Jack Robbins, she discovers the truth.
