Room for Rent by Noelle West Ihli EPUB & PDF – eBook Details Online
- Status: Available for Free Download
- Author Name: Noelle West Ihli
- Book Genre: Fiction
- Series Detail:
- ISBN #
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- Edition Language: English
- Date of Publication: 2023
- PDF File Size: 1.3 MB
- EPUB File Size: 2.1 MB
The sound came again: A soft, metallic clink on the far side of the
bedroom.
Nya tried to open her eyes, but they were too heavy.
She tried to roll over in bed, but her muscles refused to obey. Even her
tongue felt like it had been glued to the roof of her mouth.
Clink, clink.
Adrenaline prickled through her veins. Her heart hammered in her
chest, an impossibly fast tempo while the rest of her stayed sluggish and
slow.
Why couldn’t she wake up? Why couldn’t she move? What time was
it?
She managed to force her eyelids open, but it made no difference. She
couldn’t see anything. The bedroom was pitch dark.
Clink, clink.
Oh, god. She knew the sound now. It was her bedroom doorknob,
jiggling back and forth.
He was trying to get into her room.
Again.
The realization moved through her murky brain like a slippery fish.
Tiny white dots clouded her field of vision, thick as snow, no matter how
much she blinked.
Had he drugged her this time?
The panic pulsed harder, pushing her to get out of bed. To run. To
scream. To do something. But all she could do was lie there, leaden legs
tangled uselessly in the sheets.
Was the dresser still pushed against the door?
No. She knew it wasn’t.
Was this how she was going to die?
You should’ve gotten out while you had the chance, bebé, Jade’s voice
whispered through her thoughts, sad and solemn. Nobody can help you now.
Nya’s heart squeezed in her chest. “Help!” The word, meant to come
out as a scream, dribbled out of her mouth in a quiet splutter.
Click.
She heard the bedroom doorknob turn.
Then the door opened with a whoosh.
No, no, no. Oh god, no.
Oblivion was pulling her back under, no matter how hard she tried to
fight it.
Her panicked thoughts skittered just out of reach.
The last thing she heard before the darkness closed in was the sound of
his footsteps, moving toward her bed.
TWO MONTHS EARLIER
Nya’s pilgrimage from Clearwater, Idaho to Boise was usually her
favorite day of the year.
The lonely, five-hour drive sans air conditioning was grueling, and she
was never sure whether the old 1995 Honda Civic was going to make it.
The bucket of junk dripped oil and was missing its back bumper. The wind
whipped through the open windows the whole way, the dry August heat
slightly less awful than the alternative of baking alive in a speeding
convection oven.
But when the rural county highways finally spilled into the city, she’d
find the bustling college town waiting for her with its stately buildings
named after beloved professors, treasure troves of books, and throngs of
students.
This year was different. This year, a tug of homesickness stayed with
Nya while she drove. When a sign that read “Boise, 34 miles” came into
view, she was suddenly afraid she might cry. It’s just a semester, she told
herself firmly, blinking away the tears so she could focus on the road. Suck
it up, buttercup.
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