In the end, Evan makes breakfast for everyone, and we kind of pretend the whole random morning music thing is no longer an issue.
Priya, Hazel, and Lucie show gratitude; Theo says thank you, but his mouth is tight. I understand he doesn’t trust Evan yet, but this cold-shoulder thing isn’t going to help.
Priya and Hazel clean up. Hazel is beginning to take on a role similar to Priya. Planning escapes isn’t their strong suit, but they are doing what they can.
I’ve taken on more of a Theo-style role, being strong, coming up with ideas, volunteering for things I don’t want to do. It’s what I need to do to get through. I have to be working toward escape or I’ll just be accepting that this is our life forever. The playing-dead idea is kind of a last resort since all they have to do is check our pulse.
There is no life in here. We’re stuck in perpetual hell until the day we’re free.
After breakfast is done, everyone kind of does their own thing. Priya reads, Hazel puts a mindless DVD on, Theo heads into the bedroom, probably to sulk, and I stay at the kitchen table with Evan.
“How are you holding up?” I ask.
He leans his forearms on the table. “I’m holding,” he replies. “Breakfast went well…right?”
I nod. “Yeah, I think so.”
“You want to join Hazel and watch TV or…?”
“Or go for a walk outside,” I say sarcastically.
“I meant cards. There’s a deck on the bookshelf.”
We have more entertainment than I would have thought we’d get. But making it nicer in here only makes it that much worse when we’re sent into a torture room.
“What do you want to play?”
He grins. “Poker.”
“You’ll have to teach me.”
“That I can do,” he replies, and rises to get the cards.
As it turns out, he cannot teach me, because I suck beyond belief. Poker isn’t my game, and if we’d have been playing for money, I would be broke.
But I laughed. For the first time since I was taken, I laughed. A lot.
It’s so nice to feel human again. My heart is a fraction lighter, my mouth curved into a smile. It’s an odd feeling considering where I am, but for now, I’m enjoying it.
I lean back in the seat and throw my cards into the center of the table. “I’m awful!”
Evan chuckles. “You really are. I’ve taught a lot of people how to play, but I’m throwing in the towel with you.”
I shake my head. “Sorry.”
“Evan to the waiting room,” Caleb says over the crackling speaker.
Evan’s smile falls. He’s only just come in here. What if they keep him away for months again?
“No,” I whisper.
Evan covers my hand with his and my heart falters. “It’s okay. I’ll come back as soon as I can.”
He’s only been here a little over two days, I’m not ready for him to go yet. He made me laugh!
“Whatever it is, you can do it.”
“Piper to the waiting room,” Caleb calls next, his voice musical.
Evan looks up at the camera in the corner and scowls.
“Piper, not again,” Hazel says, gripping my arm. Her eyes are wet with tears.
I can’t see that right now. There is no room for weakness where I’m about to go.
“It’s okay, Hazel. I can do it.”
Evan moves his hand, but only to hold onto mine. “We’ve got this, Piper.”
Standing with him, I try to smile as my stomach churns with nerves. It’s too soon, I wanted more time after room five.
Oh God, we’re going together, what if Caleb wants two people in there again? What if Caleb wants two people in room zero?
Nope. Nope. Don’t think like that.
I walk with Evan, not missing the wounded look Theo gives us. I don’t have the mental capacity to even go there, so I don’t. We stop at the door until it clicks.
Evan is the one to push it open.
The speaker crackles again.
“What the…?” I mutter as Mozart is played into the room. This is a new song. They’ve not played this before.
“Music?” he asks, squeezing my hand.
“They didn’t play music when you were in here?”
He shakes his head with a frown. “No, that’s new.”
There seem to be a lot of new things.
I bite my lip and then say, “Well, it doesn’t matter. Let’s just get through this, okay?”
Click.
The door at the end is unlocked.
“Evan…”
He looks back as he starts to walk into the empty room in front of us. “Yeah?”
“If it’s room zero?”
Before I can blink, he spins around, facing me, his body almost pressing into mine. “You don’t need to worry about anything, Piper. You won’t be dying in that room, I can promise that.”
“You’ve known me two days,” I remind him.
“That feels like a lifetime when you bring sunshine into this dungeon.”
I couldn’t have put it better myself. I thought I could get through this because I have Hazel, but she hasn’t been herself at all. Theo has turned frosty with me. I’ve been alone. Until now.