My eyes popped open, and I came instantly awake. Something had awakened me, some sound, what was it? I held still and listened, my heart racing with fear until I remembered that I was no longer the defenseless little girl who’d been awakened many times during the night to face torment and horror.

I sat up slowly in the dark and pulled on my shoes with my back to the wall as I listened and peered around in the darkness. Whatever it was had come from outside, there ...