They had probably been rotting in here for days.
Elena scanned the dim outlines of the cages. Emily had said Theresa was down here. She squinted at the blurry silhouette in the adjacent cage, confirming it was her.
Theresa's hair was a matted mess. She was slumped against the wooden bars, the life completely drained from her eyes.
"Elena... Elena, please save me... Elena..." she muttered deliriously into the dark.
Hearing that broken whisper, Elena's throat tightened, tears welling in her eyes.
She was late.
She had let her suffer in this nightmare alone.
"Theresa. Theresa, it's me. I'm here," Elena whispered urgently.
The water around Theresa's cage rippled as she flinched.
She weakly lifted her head, her exhausted eyes finally focusing on the adjacent cage.
"Am... am I dreaming? Elena... is it really you? Elena..."
For days, she had desperately prayed for Elena to come save her. She had hallucinated her presence over and over again.
It felt just like when she was a little girl, kidnapped by traffickers. In her most helpless moment, Elena had appeared and brought her home.
"It's me, Theresa. I came to get you."
"No, this has to be a dream. This is just a dream. Why would you be here? You only show up when I'm asleep. You've come so many times, but you always disappear!"
Elena reached her hand through the wooden slats, though the gap between their cages was just a little too wide.
"Theresa, listen to my voice. You are not dreaming. This is real. I came here specifically to get you out. You have to believe me!"
Theresa froze, then shakily reached her own hand out through the bars.
Their fingertips brushed, and they tightly linked their hands together over the dark water.
"It's... it's real. You're warm. When I grabbed you in my dreams, your hands were freezing, and then you'd vanish!" Theresa choked on a sob, overwhelming relief flooding her system.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABEL
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Reborn Fake Heiress Watch the Whole Family Burn