The pavement was uncomfortable against Valerie’s bare feet, but it felt better than the carpet of the trunk had. The sun was too low to warm the night’s chill out of the air, and she was still dressed only in the thin pajamas she’d been wearing. She shivered from the cold, and from the chaotic emotions swirling around in her head. It seemed like a week ago that she had been pacing around her apartment, agonizing over Dana’s contract; the events since then left her dizzy, and incapable of untangling the mess of emotions she was feeling.

Lucca flew north along the highway, just high enough to be safe but low enough that the cars were easy to make out. They didn’t spot very many; the roads out there that early in the morning were the next best thing to deserted.

The drive through the inland California scrub seemed to go on forever. By the time Dana made it into and then over the mountains, the sky was just beginning to show the very first hints of pre-dawn light.

Vials for injectable hormones are pretty tough, but they’re still glass, and they can shatter. After losing a vial (high concentration, at that!) I worked up a design for a 3D printed protector with a screw top, that holds one vial. Print Settings I’m mostly printing these with Silk PLA filament. Silk filament has interesting properties, so if you choose to use it, consider experimenting with different combinations of fast/slow and hotter/colder. ...

More than anything else, Valerie was confused by the man’s words and his treatment of her. She didn’t believe his assurance that he meant her no harm- He’d already drugged her, and her cramped and bruised body seemed to pass the bar for “hurting” as far as she was concerned. The car hit a small bump that knocked her up and down against the unpadded trunk floor, and she whimpered, and tried without success to find a position that was comfortable.

The doorbell was insistent and ungraceful, someone pushing the button over and over again while simultaneously hammering on the door, rattling the security chain. She dropped her phone in surprise at the suddenness of it, but recovered it quickly and slipped it into the pocket of her pajamas. She cracked open the door, security chain still fastened.

okay. Valerie sent the first message quickly, rapidly typing out the four letters and hitting send before her mind had a chance to reconsider yet again. She immediately tapped the message and her finger hovered over the delete button while she agonized. The Read indicator showed up a moment later.

Six months ago. Valerie stepped through the door, into to the apartment that she and Heather shared. She was shivering from the cold and the fog outside. The apartment was dark, and silent- normally Heather would on the couch, murdering a bottle of wine while watching something inane on the TV.

Valerie wasn’t sure how long her alarm had been going off. She’d gotten back to her apartment late Sunday afternoon- had lost most of the day- and was so drained and groggy that she collapsed into bed.

“No plan survives first contact with the enemy.” Dana wasn’t sure whether the predator-prey connection she had with Valerie counted as the girl being her “enemy-” but she supposed it must, because her plan had just fallen apart completely.