I wait with my heart in my mouth. The room is eerily silent, like everyone is holding their breath. Where is he? Caleb doesn’t make any noise when he moves anymore, as if he’s some sort of deadly ninja. It’s a stark contrast to how loud he was preparing a minute ago.
I swallow against the churning in my stomach as acid rushes up my throat. Keep yourself occupied!
Count.
One. Two. Three. Four. Five…
Three hundred and forty-eight seconds.
My face is cold, the water icy and getting colder the longer it sits on my skin. The towel is still covering my face, heavy and damp.
Lucie hasn’t made a sound. In fact, nothing has. For all I know, Caleb has left the room. But that seems unlikely since he’s set on making me hurt.
I want to call out to Lucie and see if she’s okay, but I’m scared that he will use the opportunity to pour more water on my face. To get through this, I need my eyes and mouth closed and to hold my breath as water hits me. If I don’t, I’ll get into some serious trouble fast.
My fingers ache as they curl harder into the thin mattress of the bed.
Breathe in. Breathe out.
Caleb hums low and deep, sending a shudder racing up my spine. My pulse thuds in my ears. I’m okay. I don’t recognize the tune, but it’s creepy, like it belongs in a horror movie right as the killer is about to pounce.
“Hmm hmm. Hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm. Hmmmm.”
I squeeze my eyes together tighter.
The first thing I feel is a weight slamming into my face. It feels like someone has dropped bricks on me. The next thing is the temperature. Ice cold.
Water seeps through the towel at an unimaginable rate, gushing against my skin. I hold my breath as a steady stream follows the initial downpour. I keep holding my breath.
Please stop. Please be over soon!
Cold water continues to drum on my face, hitting my mouth and nose. How is he doing this for so long? The water is never-ending.
My lungs burn.
He needs to stop. I need him to stop.
Caleb, no!
My hands cramp.
I’m going to die.
My lungs deflate. I can’t take a breath, but I need oxygen. I have nothing left.
“Hmm, hmm, hmm,” Caleb hums as the water comes to an abrupt stop.
I turn my head the best I can in the restraint against my forehead, and it’s just enough to move my mouth from directly touching the towel. I take a deep breath.
My eyes sting with unshed tears. I know that Caleb wouldn’t be able to tell if I was crying with the water already on my face, but I’ll know.
You will not break me.
Beside me, I can hear Lucie cry quietly. I focus on her. I’m not alone. I have someone else going through this with me.
Water slams into my face again. I clamp my mouth shut and stop breathing.
It keeps coming and coming and coming.
I dig my heels into the bed and scream so loud in my head that I’m sure Caleb will be able to hear it.
He doesn’t stop. Water whacks my face, drilling into my mouth. I clamp my lips closed harder and swallow a sob.
My legs shake, hitting the mattress as my lungs scream in pain.
I want this to end. Stop! He’s going to kill me. This is my punishment for challenging him. Oh God, this is it.
My legs go heavy. The water continues to pour onto my face.
I’m never going to see my parents again.
Every muscle in my body relaxes; my hands drop their grip and my feet fall to the side.
Caleb moves back. Air fills my lungs in a big rush that makes me light-headed. If I weren’t already lying down, I would have hit the floor by now.
My body is done already. But Caleb isn’t. Chuckling, he begins humming, and water hits my face again.
• • •
Time passes so slowly. I feel the agony of every second. My chest aches heavily, fingers numb from holding on so hard.
Caleb hums again as he removes the restraints around my head, wrists, and ankles. The freezing towel is still on my face. He hasn’t told me not to move, but it’s kind of a given. And anyway, I’m not sure I can right now. I’m spent, emotionally and physically. The last thing in the world I want right now is to have any kind of conversation with him.
So I lie still and wait.
Caleb rips the towel from my face. I blink at the sudden assault the bright light has on my eyes. I avert my gaze, not giving him the satisfaction of any kind of communication. But he’s not even looking at me.
He unbuckles Lucie next, and she rolls onto her side, away from us both.
I don’t move my head, but I do follow him with my eyes. He chucks an empty bucket to the side and heads out the door.
The door shuts, and I try to jump to my feet. Gripping the edge of the bed, I close my eyes as my vision blurs and wait for the head rush to pass. Every inch of my body hurts.
One, two, three, four…
I get to eleven before my head stops spinning. I open my eyes.
Lucie hasn’t moved. Her restraints are undone, but she’s lying in the same position as if she hasn’t realized Caleb has released us and left.
“Can you get up?” I ask her. Caleb hasn’t touched her in hours, or what I assume to be hours, so I don’t know why she’s not getting up. She’s had time to physically recover.
“I don’t want to,” she murmurs, staring up at the ceiling. Her red hair has dried, but it’s still stuck closely to her head. It must have been a while since Caleb paid any attention to her for her hair to be bone-dry.
Mine is dripping.
Sniffing, I shove my hair over my shoulders, ignoring how the water seeps lower into the fabric of my top.
“Lucie, please, you need to get up,” I plead. She can’t fall apart right now. We need to go. I need to get back. I have to see Hazel, see something good from my life outside of these walls.
“Go back, Piper. I’m going to see if they’ll let me run.”
My eyes bulge. “No, Lucie! Don’t think like that. Come back with me and sleep on it. We’ll talk in the morning.”
“What’s the point? I won’t feel any different tomorrow. I’ve had enough, Piper. I’m done.”
I grab Lucie’s hand. That’s it. I’ve had enough. She has to get it together! I’m tired, my chest hurts, my throat is raw, and I just need to curl up in bed and be the other version of me.
She needs to get it the hell together long enough to get back in that room where we’ll be locked in and she can’t make any dumb decisions.
“Don’t, Piper,” she says, tugging her arm. But I don’t let go. “Seriously, I—”
“Save it and get up.” I pull, and she swings her legs over the side before she falls off the bed.
“What are you doing?” she demands.
“Good, you’re up. Let’s go.”
Narrowing her eyes, she snaps, “Are you stupid? You heard what I said.”
“I heard. Now, let’s go.”
“Piper!”
“No!” I shout. “Stop being a bitch and get back to the room now. If tomorrow you want to offer your head on a platter to them, so be it, but right now, after what’s just happened to us, you need to come back.” I widen my eyes, trying to tell her there’s been a development. That we might all have a chance of getting out of here alive.
Lucie frowns, tilting her head to the side like she’s trying to figure something out.
Yes, get that I’m telling you something. Trust me one last time.
“Fine, but if I still feel like this tomorrow…”
“Then you do what you need to. Okay?”
She dips her chin in agreement and we both stumble to the door. Most of the water was on my face, but the neckline of my top is damp and cold. I don’t care enough to stop and get fresh clothing.
Lucie and I run out of the room with unsteady legs and almost slam into the wall in the corridor. I place my palms on the wall and take a breath. Lucie sobs and slaps her hand over her mouth. “Piper, I want to get out of here.”
I’m not sure whether here refers to this hallway or the building as a whole, but I agree that we need to keep moving. I take her hand and push away from the wall. My legs, weak from either the water torture or shock, carry me slowly along the hallway to the door of the orientation room.
We press on, clinging to each other like we’ll fall if we let go, and pass through the clothes room, the random empty room, through the waiting room, and back into our space.
We’re here.
I tug the door shut behind it and wince as it slams. Not two seconds later, it clicks locked. My shoulders sag.