She had been here for what seemed like years but was probably no more than a day or two, the darkness pressing down on her. She thought it was probably a basement: who has no windows in their house?
It was cold, and she could feel the chill seeping through her shirt. The damp brick was rough and her side was bruised from lying on the concrete floor.
There was a click, then a small patch of light appeared on the low ceiling, where the trapdoor was. This had happened a couple of times before, and Ralph had thrown food down. Sure enough, there was a muffled thump as whatever it was bounced off the floor into the corner of the room. But instead of the door closing immediately, there was some muffled cursing and another thump as something was lowered down, then dropped the last few feet into the basement.
Christine felt her way carefully across the room before finally touching the bundle of food. She'd open it later. She turned round and looked for the other thing that had been dropped.
She felt the blood drain out of her face as she realised what it was.
Another person.