ANNE

Was it one night?

Two nights?

A week?

A month?

A year?

I can’t tell how much time passed. The deafening silence and the shortness of breath had my mind spinning with anxiety and something I rarely ever experienced and admitted; terror.

Terror is always the first step to defeat—an exceptionally humiliating defeat. I hate defeat. But it seemed like all I was doing at that moment was losing. Against myself. Against the darkness, I was in. Against the horrifying memories playing before my e