Evan has been gone a long time, and I can’t help worrying that he’s been taken away for another six months or worse.
How long can you be in solitary confinement, flitting from torture room to torture room before you lose yourself completely? Evan is one of the strongest people I know, but everyone has their limits and I could see in his eyes that he was scared when they called his name.
Priya senses my stress. “It’s been a good few hours now, but I’m sure he’s fine.”
I shake my head. “But he keeps having to do this over and over. How do you stay strong through that?”
“He’s stronger than anyone. Caleb, Owen, and Matt know that, which is why they kept him in those rooms for months, Piper.”
“Right. Yeah, that makes sense. They punish him harder.”
Hazel scoffs. “He’s probably dead. We don’t know where Kevin is. They’re probably in room zero.”
“Hazel!” I snap, scowling at her. “If you can’t be positive, then don’t speak! I’ve had enough of this doom-and-gloom attitude you’ve adopted since we got here.”
“Oh, I’m sorry for being realistic.”
“You’re not being realistic; you’re being pessimistic, and it’s not helping.”
She rolls her eyes and flicks through one of the old magazines, ignoring me.
All our lives, she’s been so upbeat. Whenever I had a freak-out that I’d done badly on a test or essay, she would talk me down. I hate what this place is doing to my best friend. I miss the old her so much.
There is nothing I wouldn’t do to be back in my room with her, eating popcorn, watching some stupid rom-com, or trying to pick out the killer in a mystery movie.
Hazel never guessed right because she always overthought it.
I probably shouldn’t have snapped at her, but her attitude is crappy. Constantly hearing the worst-case scenario is bringing us all down. I’m not naive. I know what they’re capable of, but I can’t let my mind constantly go there. Hope is all we have.
I turn back to Priya. At least she’s trying to make the best of things here until we figure a way out of this mess. “You’re right. Evan’s probably just being kept in there longer. I hate that he’s been treated worse because he tried to escape. I mean, it makes sense for them to do that, as a deterrent to the rest of us, but it sucks. Royally sucks. We would all escape if we could,” I say.
“We can,” Priya whispers. “Remember, there is a way out of here. We just need to figure out which way is most likely to work.”
Any new ideas would be welcomed.
What if Kevin and Evan are in room zero?
The door in the hallways clicks, unlocking. Priya and I jump to our feet. Lucie dashes out of the bedroom, and Theo puts down his plate to walk closer.
It’s either Evan or Kevin.
Evan walks through the door, rubbing his forehead.
There is no blood on him, no injury or sign of a struggle, and he’s carrying a bag of clean clothes. His brown hair is still disheveled in that purposeful way.
He hasn’t been in room zero. But his head is hurting.
“Sound?” I ask, my shoulders now free of stress. He’s safe.
But we don’t know if Kevin is.
Evan nods, his eyes are semi-vacant as if he hasn’t been able to bring himself back from wherever he goes mentally while in those rooms.
“Yeah, sound. I’m okay, though.” He drops his hand. “Everyone else all right?”
“We’re all fine,” Priya says. “Do you need anything?”
“Sounds like dinner is cooking,” he replies.
The microwave is humming.
She brushes her long black hair over her shoulder. “Yes, it will only be another minute now.”
Theo opens the fridge and tosses Evan a bottle of water.
“Thanks, man,” Evan says.
The two of them are less frosty with each other, which is nice. It’s not Evan’s fault that any of this is happening. And it’s not his fault that Kevin appears to have taken his place in exile.
“You were there a long time,” I say.
He pauses on the way past. “I was?”
“Yeah. A little over five hours, Evan.”
“I-I don’t know if I’ve been in that room that long before. When you’re in there…”
“Time is meaningless. I know.”
Smiling, he adds, “It didn’t feel like any longer than usual.”
When you’re in one of the rooms, it could be for minutes or all day. It’s impossible to tell.
“Well, at least you’re back now. Do you need aspirin?”
“I’m all right. I’ve gotten used to not having anything. My head isn’t too bad.” He flops down beside me. “What have you been up to while I was gone?”
I shrug. “Nothing. TV.” Worrying about you mostly.
He glances over. “The Da Vinci Code, huh?”
“It’s one of the better DVDs we have here,” I reply. “Keeps my mind busy.”
“What do you usually watch at home?”
“Ironically, anything crime-based. I love those documentaries about getting into the minds of serial killers.”
“Really?” he asks, lifting his eyebrows.
“Yep. So, I should have known Caleb was a creep, right?” So stupid to have trusted him.
Evan throws his arm over the back of the sofa behind me. “We’re all in the same position, Piper.”
“Yeah, I know. I still feel like I should have seen it coming. I know not to get into cars with strangers.”
“Caleb is rich and respectable. You knew who he was, right? I mean, everyone knows about those guys.”
“I knew about him, yeah. But that doesn’t mean I’m not an idiot.”
He shakes his head, a frown marring his face. “Don’t put yourself down. I think you’re pretty awesome. You have no idea who you really are yet.”
“Who I really am?”
“You can change the world, Piper, or take it over.”
“Hmm, I don’t hate the idea of owning the world.”
He tilts his head back and laughs. “I knew you were going to say that. Perfect answer, and when we’re out of here, we’ll get working on that.”
“We have to get out first.”
“We will. There is no way our destiny is to die in this building.”
I lean a little closer to him. His warmth is comforting, his words spurring me on, strength seeping into my pores. I’m ready to fight to get out of here.
“Thanks, Evan. You always seem to know what to say.”
“I know you better than you think.”
“Which is incredible since I’ve known you such a short time.”
“You said it yourself, time means nothing in here.”
It’s true. Evan, Theo, Lucie, Priya, and Kevin, along with Hazel of course, have become so important to me in such a short amount of time. We’ve made a family in here, bound by fear, the need to survive, and the same horrifying circumstances.
But that’s not to say that just because we’re the heroes of the story, we’ll get out alive.
“I can’t wait to do normal things like going to see a movie with my mom, eating breakfast out with my dad, riding my bike, and, I can’t believe I’m about to admit this, but I’m even looking forward to school again.”
Evan laughs. “I need to figure out my whole life when I get out of here. College, work, everything.”
“There will be plenty of time for that. What you really need to do is spend time with your family. Ultimately, that’s all that matters.” Being here makes me realize that I haven’t appreciated my parents enough. Sure, we spend time together, but I took it all for granted. Evan after Penny died, I still assumed they would always be there. The three of us was the new constant.
I should have spent more time with them, had more conversations, and now I’m facing us being apart for the rest of my life—however long that is.
I just want one more conversation, one more hug, one more chance to tell them I love and appreciate them.
Dipping my head, I press my fist into my aching chest and bite back the tears for my parents. What’s the point in crying? It’s only going to feed the evil inside Caleb, Owen, and Matt.
“Piper?” Evan whispers. He leans over to me and wraps his arm around my shoulders. Shouldn’t it be me comforting him right now?
“Sorry,” I say, lifting my head and forcing my mouth to smile. “I’m okay.”
“Where did your mind go?”
“Nowhere.”
“Piper,” he prompts. “Tell me.”
“It’s just… I was thinking about my parents and wondering if I’ll see them again.”
His fingers brush though my hair. “You will see them again.”
If only I could be so sure.
I smile because there isn’t much else I can do or say, and Evan sinks into the sofa, his hand still working through the strands of my dark hair. “You know I think it’s pretty unique to have black hair and blue eyes,” he tells me.
“That’s what my mom says, too. She has black hair and brown eyes, and my dad has blond hair and blue eyes. I took one from each.”
“It’s pretty special.”
Priya calls us to dinner, and we all eat in deafening silence. No one seems to look up from their plate, the sober atmosphere doing nothing to lift my mood. Without speaking about it, we have all gone into ourselves. My parents are on my mind, and I have a feeling the others are the same.
There’s a sense of urgency now, with so many things changing in here, accelerating. It feels like we’re getting closer to the end.
We finish our food and clean up, then one by one, we get ready for bed.
I walk to my bunk and climb the ladder. My limbs are heavy, and it takes a lot of effort to pick each one up and get into bed. But I manage it, and tug the cover up to my chin.
Why do I feel so drained?
My eyes are closing. Something’s wrong, stay awake.
I force my eyelids to part, but nothing happens. They’re stuck together, and I’m getting heavier, my body sinking into the mattress.
Why can’t I open my eyes?
I want to call out, but I don’t have the energy to even do that. Sleep is all I want.
No, stay awake!
No one else is saying anything. Everyone is in bed, and there would usually be a little talk for a few minutes, some whispering beyond that, but tonight there is only silence.
We’ve been drugged.
The speaker crackles. Our music starts to play.
A loud thud in the main room echoes throughout the bedroom.
My pulse soars, then the world turns black.