My head pounds so violently, I gag. I press my index fingers to my temples and groan.
I was eating in the common room. Then… God, what happened after that? I can’t remember. Did I go to bed? Is it now morning?
The air is warm, warmer than the common room’s temperature. They usually keep that just a fraction above cold.
Where am I?
Picking my head up, I try to make sense of my surroundings. There is something big; I think it’s a sofa, but it’s a different color than the one I spend so much time sitting on.
What the…?
With my palms flat on the floor, I haul myself to my knees, and my head throbs.
I was drugged. Our food was poisoned! What is wrong with them? Our room was always a safe space before, but I can’t trust anything now. Not even food.
My head is fuzzy, but my vision slowly sharpens. The old-style TV and sofa. I’m in the orientation room.
Evan.
I gasp.
He’s in here, too, but we’re alone. Where is everyone else?
He’s lying on the floor, and he’s so, so still that it sends chills down my spine.
“Evan?” I whisper.
His face is pressed into the floor, but I can see his eyes are closed. My gaze homes in on his chest, seeking confirmation. Please be alive. Please, please.
His chest rises and falls.
Grimacing, I get to my feet and glance up at the camera. You will not break me. Whatever you have planned, bring it.
I turn back to Evan and stumble toward him. My head is spinning, legs not quite cooperating like the way I felt after having a bad case of the flu last year.
“Evan? Evan, please, speak to me.”
His hand twitches.
“Evan, can you get up?”
His head turns to me, and he flicks his eyes open, but they don’t focus on me. Instead, he stares ahead blankly, pupils dilated. “Evan!” I screech, my heart racing. “Come on, talk to me!” Is he in shock?
I crouch down and brush my fingers across his forehead. “Please, Evan. Look, we were drugged but we’re okay now.”
He blinks heavily, and his eyes meet mine. “Piper?”
I smile as a sob of relief escapes my mouth. “Yeah. Hey, it’s me. Let’s get you to your feet.”
I wrap my hands around his waist and help him up. He leans on me and grips my upper arm. “What happened? They drugged us?” His voice is filled with disgust.
“Yeah, they did. We’re in the orientation room. I don’t know where the others are.” They could be somewhere out of the common room, too. But unless they’re in one of the torture rooms, it would be harder to control all of us out here. There are places we can run and hide and the main door we can escape out of.
News of us being outside the common room seems to perk him up, and he stands on his own and looks around the room. Rubbing his forehead, he asks, “Where are they?”
“I don’t know. I only woke up a minute ago, right before you.”
He grits his teeth. “Why do you think we’re in here?”
Shaking my head, I reply honestly, “I have no idea, but I’m scared.”
“Don’t be. We’re okay,” he whispers, pulling me into his arms.
While I’m here with him, I can give in to the weakness inside, the part of me that fears for my life, who wishes someone would rescue me. Although we share an inner strength that I certainly didn’t know I had, Evan still allows me to be weak without judgment.
With everyone else, I feel an intense pressure to always hold it together because that’s who I’ve been, the together girl. I don’t let things get to me, and I keep myself firmly in the positivity camp. But it’s such a relief when I get to be vulnerable, even if it is just for a minute.
I step back after a few seconds. I’m okay now. There is a time and place for weakness, and right now is not the time. We don’t know why we’re here or what they have planned.
The sound of metal clanging, a door unlocking, startles me. I grip Evan’s hand. We’re united. Whatever Caleb, Matt, and Owen are about to do, we can get through this.
The door to the long hallway opens. Caleb and Owen storm in. Matt stands by the door frame holding a gun.
I press into Evan’s side, but I don’t cower.
“What’s going on?” Evan asks, his voice strong but wavering at the end.
I’m not the only one who is scared.
Caleb smirks, loving doing something that we don’t expect. “Come with us,” he orders.
Evan’s eye twitches. “Why?” he challenges.
Caleb’s smirk widens. “Come with us.”
Oh God, what is he doing?
Owen lunges toward me, grabbing my arm. I’m jerked forward and his death grip on my wrist bites, but I steady myself and stand tall.
Evan grabs my other arm, his eyes burning a hole in Owen. “Let go,” he spits.
Caleb reaches out and grabs Evan’s upper arm. He pins him to the spot with dark, dead eyes.
“You come with us or Matt will shoot you,” Owen says, addressing both me and Evan.
“Just do what he says, Evan,” I plead. There is no need to make this harder than it’s going to be. Not when we’re out here like this.
They don’t physically bring themselves into these rooms unless it’s room five.
They tug us roughly through the door. I gasp as I’m shoved into their room with all the games. I thought this place was so cool when I first saw it. But it’s just a front for evil.
“What are you doing?” I demand as Owen pushes me down. My hands curl around the edge of the seat as I’m forced onto a hard plastic chair.
My breathing is erratic. I can feel my chest moving too fast.
Breathe slow. You can do whatever this is, too.
Caleb slams Evan down on the chair opposite me, our knees an inch from touching. I keep my eyes on him, letting his calm wash over me. He watches me, too, using me as an anchor.
I’m okay. Evan is here.
I tear my gaze from him and stare up at Caleb standing behind him while Owen works on tying me to the seat with a thick rope.
“You two have been very bad,” Caleb says. His voice is strong and domineering.
I swallow bile, my stomach rolling at the excitement in his demeanor. He’s light on his feet, eyes shining with possibilities.
“We haven’t done anything, you sick freak!” I shout.
Caleb folds his arms after securing Evan to the seat. “That’s not very nice now, is it? I give you a place to stay, provide you with food and water, and you call me a freak.”
Owen finishes up with my restraints. The rope pinches my skin, causing a hot burning sensation, but I do my best to ignore it.
“Can you hear yourself?” Evan snaps. “We never asked for any of this.”
“Yet, somehow, you’re here.”
“Because you took us, idiot!” I yell.
I can tell from how controlled Caleb always seems to be that it takes a lot to irritate him, but he grinds his teeth at the word idiot.
He dips his head, his eyes pinning me to the seat better than the restraints. “I knew you were going to be feisty. That’s what attracted me to you when I saw you walking by the lake. Your lips were pursed, and you weren’t paying much attention to your surroundings. You weren’t looking because you didn’t think there was any danger.”
Matt laughs. “Poor Red Riding Hood.”
I look up Matt and glare. “I’m not poor anything.”
“You’re playing with the lions now, sweetheart.”
“You’re not as clever as you think you are,” I tell Matt.
“Time for you to shut up.” He raises his arm, and I struggle against the restraints to stop him.
“Don’t!” Evan shouts at the same time Matt’s free hand comes down hard and heavy across my cheek. My head whips to the side. “Piper?”
“I’m fine,” I reply, though my cheek feels like it’s on fire. Blinking away stars, I focus on Evan.
“Are you done?” I ask Matt.
But it’s Caleb who replies, “With you…”
My eyes flash to Evan, and my heart drops.