Beneath the Floorboards Chapter 1

Okay, so… my landlord kidnapped me.

Yeah. Seriously. My boyfriend, Liam, was supposed to come with me to check out the apartment, but he got called away on a business trip last minute. The landlord saw I was just a college grad, all alone, and he started… well, he started getting grabby.

Next thing I know, he's locked me in his creepy basement. Like he actually thinks he can just keep me…

* * *

My eyelids felt heavy, like peeling tape off a wall. When I finally got them open, the scene in front of me hit me like a physical blow. My breath hitched.

What the hell was I wearing? It was… trashy. Skimpy doesn't even begin to cover it.

It wasn't really clothes. Just… scraps. Shreds of thin, ragged fabric draped over me, barely hiding anything important.

I couldn't stand looking. I squeezed my eyes shut again, heat flaring up my neck and cheeks. Pure, burning shame. I always dress pretty modestly, you know? Nothing flashy. I’d never, ever wear anything like… this.

My hands automatically flew up to cover myself, but—clink. A cold, sharp sound. Metal. My wrists were chained.

My stomach plummeted. Where am I? How did I get tied up here?

My mind started racing backwards, trying to piece together how I ended up in this nightmare.

My name’s Chloe. I just graduated a little while ago.

Job hunting has been a total headache, and step one was finding my own place. Liam and I had planned to go apartment hunting together, but then his phone rang, and suddenly he had some "emergency" work thing he couldn't miss. Just like that, he was gone.

So there I was, standing alone in front of this apartment building, staring at this gross, yellowed wooden door. I got this really bad feeling.

You hear those horror stories, right? Landlords preying on young women, college students especially.

But we’d set up the viewing for today, and bailing last second felt rude, like it would tick the landlord off. He’d called me the day before, going on about how tight the rental market was because of graduation season, how places were getting snapped up instantly. If I didn't commit fast, I'd lose it. So I’d locked it in, feeling pressured. And then, of course, Liam flakes out right when I need him.

Still, that bad feeling wouldn't go away. I quickly called my best friend, Maya, but it went straight to voicemail.

Okay, Chloe, I told myself, trying to shake it off. You're probably just being paranoid. What are the odds something bad actually happens?

I took a deep breath, pushed the dread down, and knocked lightly on the door.