Chapter 3

A few days later, Sarah needed to use the company' s lactation room.

It was a small, private space, a sanctuary she relied on to pump milk for her baby during the workday.

She locked the door, set up her pump, and tried to relax.

The hum of the machine was usually a soothing sound.

Today, it felt like a countdown.

She closed her eyes, thinking of her little boy.

Suddenly, the door handle jiggled.

Sarah' s eyes snapped open.

Then, a key turned in the lock. The door swung open.

Brenda stood there, a grim smile on her face.

And next to her, looming in the doorway, was a large young man.

Kevin.

He was tall, probably six-foot-two, and heavyset, with a vacant look in his eyes. He fidgeted, his gaze darting around the small room.

Fear, cold and sharp, pierced through Sarah.

"Well, well, look who we found," Brenda said, her voice dripping with malice. "All alone."

Kevin grunted, a low, guttural sound.

"You thought you could just say no to me, to my Kevin?" Brenda sneered. "He needs his medicine, and you're going to give it to him."

Her eyes flicked down to Sarah's exposed chest, then back to Kevin.

"Go on, son," Brenda urged, her voice sickeningly sweet. "Go get the milk. Mommy will help you."

Kevin took a clumsy step into the room. He smelled faintly of unwashed clothes and something else, something stale.

Sarah scrambled back, her chair hitting the wall.

"Brenda, no! Get him out of here!"

"You think you're so tough?" Sarah said, her voice trembling but trying to sound firm. She remembered Chloe's words about Brenda's previous victim. "I fought you off once, I can do it again!"

She tried to project an authority she didn't feel, cornered and vulnerable.

The pump was still attached, a humiliating tether.

Brenda chuckled, a dry, humorless sound.

"Oh, I know you're a fighter, dear. That's why I brought Kevin. He's a big boy, isn't he? Stronger than his old mom. Stronger than you."

Her eyes gleamed with a chilling cunning.

"I saw how you reacted last time. You' re quick. But Kevin... Kevin doesn' t feel pain the same way. And he really wants his milk."

The implication was horrifying. Brenda had assessed her, planned this.

Sarah' s eyes darted to the door, but Brenda and Kevin blocked the only exit.

The room suddenly felt suffocatingly small.

"This room is soundproofed, you know," Brenda said, as if reading her mind. "For privacy. No one will hear you scream."

A cold dread washed over Sarah.

She was trapped.

This was a premeditated assault.

Sarah looked at Kevin. He was shuffling his feet, looking confused but also agitated by his mother' s tone.

"Kevin," Sarah said, trying to keep her voice even, authoritative. "Your mother is wrong. This is wrong. You don't want to do this."

He blinked, looking from Sarah to his mother, a flicker of something unreadable in his eyes. He seemed to hesitate.

Brenda immediately stepped in.

"Don't listen to her, sweetie," Brenda cooed, stroking Kevin's arm. "She's just being mean. She doesn't want you to get better. But Mommy knows best. You need your special milk. Go on, take it."

Kevin' s hesitation vanished. His expression hardened, mimicking his mother' s.

He lunged.