“So if we manage to do it, are you going to stay in here or are you going to leave with us?”
Priya and I sit back. Usually I would be the first person to jump in and defend Hazel—she’s my best friend and I have a lot of practice sticking up for her—but Theo is right. She can’t take a step back and do nothing to help.
“You can’t force me to do something I don’t want to do, Theo!”
“Shh!” I hiss. “Lower your voice again, please. The last thing we need is for them to hear what we’re saying.”
Hazel snaps her mouth shut and folds her arms. She’s acting like a spoiled child and annoying me to no end. We’re all going to have to do things we don’t want to for the greater good.
I need to be ordered to one of those rooms soon, so I can check if there’s any sign of a window.
Better still, I need to get back outside to double-check there actually is a window we can get access through. But going outside again seems unlikely. Unless they want to see if anyone else will run. We’re going to have to have a conversation about how we go forward, get everyone to agree that we can’t run, but we can check out the outside of the building and report back.
The speaker above us crackles. “Piper, turn the TV on,” Owen says, his voice rattling over static. “You’re not going to want to miss this.”
No.
“I can’t,” I say, looking up at the camera. That’s what they’re waiting for. If they wanted us to watch, they could turn it back on themselves. They want me to do it. Do they have no empathy at all? Is there nothing human about any of them?
“Piper, turn the TV on, or Lucie will be waiting for you in room zero.”
Priya gasps. “Just do it, Piper. No-watching pact is over! I would rather be watched than forced to kill or be killed.”
She’s right.
I swallow a thick lump clogging my throat and pick up the remote.
My eyes are glued to the screen as it pings to life.
Lucie is still lying on a gurney-style bed. But now there is a second one in the room.
“What the…?” Theo whispers.
“Why do they have two beds?” Priya asks. “Has that ever happened before?” she asks Theo.
Theo shakes his head slowly, his mouth slightly parted. “Not that I’m aware of.”
“Do you think it’s for Kevin?” Hazel asks.
No, I think it’s for me.
My heart rate rockets to the point where it’s all I can hear, and I’m sure the others must be able to as well.
No one has been in any of those rooms, beside room zero, with another person before. Isn’t part of the torture that you’re in solitary confinement? We only have ourselves.
Why would they change things up again when it’s been this way for more than a year?
“Piper, please come to the waiting room.”
My heart freezes as they confirm my fear. Twice in one day. No, this has to be a mistake. I can’t do it again.
Yes, you damn well can!
Hazel grips my arm. “You can’t do that room.”
They’re testing me. Two rooms in one day is too much for anyone. But what choice do I have except to fight them at every turn? They know I won’t give up, so they’re going to keep pushing until I’m as timid and afraid as Hazel.
They want me to believe that I’m going to die down here.
Well, I’m not.
I stand, my vision blurring, and tug out of Hazel’s grip. “I can,” I reply.
Take Priya’s coping mechanism and become someone else.
My legs wobble as I step toward the door. Theo, Hazel, and Priya don’t make a sound, but I know they’re with me.
This is the one I feared most, and it’s finally happening. It’s happening just hours after room one.
You can get through it. Soon it will be over.
I place my palm on the door, and when it clicks, I push it open. Caleb is going to torture me with water.
The door closes behind me, clicking locked as Owen ensures that I can’t go back. I couldn’t anyway. Not with the threat of room zero, knowing that things around here are changing, and fearing that Caleb, Owen, and Matt are developing a taste for killing.
Will they start killing us in the other rooms? Or will they let us outside the building again, giving us the false hope of escape?
I’m certain they would like the hunt. Where is the glory of killing someone locked inside a room?
I know that Theo, Hazel, and Priya wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of running, but I’m not at all convinced that Lucie, even knowing what they want, wouldn’t run anyway.
She said she would rather die trying. But she wouldn’t even be trying because there is no hope.
The wall, Piper. Check the damn wall!
I glance to my side and lean against the wall. Hopefully to them, it will just look as if I’m panicking. I can see the slight ridges where the joints of the plasterboard sheets have been taped and filled, and where they then painted the wall white.
Pushing myself back off the wall, I make sure my knuckles knock against the plasterboard and hear that sweet sound I was hoping for. It’s hollow behind. They have built the wall in front of something, and odds are, it’s the window. Why else would they need to build it out if there wasn’t something in the way, like the frame of the window sticking out just past the metal siding of the building?
Ignoring the fact that there could well be something blocking the window and preventing it from opening, like bars, I suspect we could potentially get out this way.
I walk toward the empty room, and the door in front of me clicks. Owen is watching me head to Lucie, unlocking doors as I go.
He has all the control here. I bet his smile is wide, his heart racing for the opposite reason mine is.
My mind doesn’t take anything in as I walk, too busy thinking about what’s about to come and what I’ve found in the waiting room.
There is still the big question of how we would get out. It’s unlikely they stay overnight here since they have homes and families. People would miss them. There are periods where things are quieter than others, like mornings, but that doesn’t mean they’re not watching or that they don’t take shifts.
I stop at the door in front of me. Beyond it is the corridor to hell, lined with doors to rooms that hold nothing put pain. I take a ragged breath as the air around me thins, like I’ve just climbed a mountain. Stepping forward, I reach out and twist the handle.
The hallway to hell stretches out in front of me.
Room five’s door is open wide. I’ve only been along this corridor three times, but the doors have only been open an inch before. As if they like to make us open it ourselves.
I straighten my back and walk to the room with my head held high. They will not get the better of me.
On the outside, they will see me as calm. On the inside, I’m hit by a wave of nausea. I press my hand to my stomach as I round the corner into the room.
Two pairs of eyes settle on me. One full of fear and heartbreak. The other burning with delight.
“Hi, Piper,” Caleb drawls with a smirk.
22
The little room has only enough space for the two beds and a short gap running between. Along the ends of the beds is enough room for buckets of water that line the side and a pile of towels and jugs stacked in the corner.
Everything Caleb needs.
I clear my constricting throat. “Hello, Caleb.”
His smile widens, knowing I’m not going to fall apart in front of him. I don’t care if he likes it or if he doesn’t. For me, I need to keep calm. I can’t control what he does to me, but I can control how I react to that.
“Would you care to lie down?”
My eyes fall on the bed beside Lucie, her tortured eyes and wet hair, and my heart stalls.
I don’t want to play his game. I want to scream and fight, but I have no choice.
The only thing I can do is to show him the fear he so desperately craves.
Swallowing, I reply, “Sure.”
It’s not like he’s going to let me go if I say no. I walk past him, keeping my gaze on the bed, and I sit down on the edge.
“You okay?” I ask Lucie.
Her hair is soaking wet, eyes puffy and rimmed with a red line where she’s been crying.
She doesn’t speak; in fact she presses her lips together so hard, they disappear. I don’t know if she’s still mad at me or if she’s scared to speak.
“We’re not here for a conversation, Piper,” Caleb says.
“No? What are we here for, then?” I ask, looking at him over my shoulder.
He folds his arms, his muscles protruding. I wonder if he has always been into working out or if he did it to get strong enough to overpower others.
Doesn’t really matter.
“You know what we’re here for.”
“Ah, right,” I mutter. “We’re here because you’re lacking something in your life and need to make yourself feel better by harming others.”
“Now, now, Piper, let’s not get personal.”
“Personal? You watch me in the bathroom.” I lie down, ignoring the hammering in my chest. This is who I need to be in these rooms.
“I can assure you I don’t look.”
“Your assurances mean very little, Caleb, but thanks for clearing that up.” I grab the straps attached to the side of the bed. “Are you tying me to this or not? I mean, it’s obviously more fun when someone is strapped down...”
I’m taunting him, and it’s likely to be a bad idea, but I can’t help it. This version of me is harder. I’m not afraid to stand up for myself, but this is something else.
“You want to be strapped down for me, Piper?”
“I’d rather be home, to be honest, Caleb.”
“You don’t feel at home here?” he asks, tilting his head to the side.
“Let’s get on with this. You’re boring me now.”
Caleb’s smile grows wider and wider.
Sick asshole.
“Sure. We can go ahead and get started if you like.”
The sooner it starts, the sooner it’s over. Like going to sleep early on Christmas Eve. Except when I wake up tomorrow, I’ll still be in hell.
“Do whatever you want, Caleb,” I say, clenching my trembling hands.
Get that under check; he can’t know how petrified you are.
I close my eyes and blow out a breath as if I’m getting comfortable, about to take a nap. You will be fine.
For some reason I don’t think I’ll be sleeping while I’m in here. Unless I pass out.
Don’t think about that!
“Oh, Piper, I plan on doing what I want. Isn’t that right, Lucie?”
Lucie doesn’t reply, but she grips the straps tight in her hands and whimpers through clenched teeth.
I don’t want to look at her again because her eyes are haunted. Right now, I need to be able to pretend that everything is okay. And it is because this version of me is stronger.
“Get on with it, Caleb,” I snap, turning his attention back to me. Lucie has had enough, and honestly, I owe her for not giving her the chance to run.
Sure, she would be dead by now if she’d run, but that wasn’t my choice to make.
“Oh, Piper, I think you’re my favorite so far.”
“Why? Hasn’t there been anyone else unafraid of you?”
He steps closer. I can’t see him because my eyes are firmly shut, but I can hear the quiet footsteps and feel his presence.
“You’re not afraid of me?” he asks, his voice light and playful.
He’s crazy.
“No, Caleb, I’m not afraid of you,” I repeat.
It’s a big fat lie. If he were to check my pulse right now, he would know the truth.
“Well, let’s see if we can change that, shall we?”
I slow my breathing as my heart races faster. He’s going to go in harder on me because he thinks that I’m not scared.
Caleb moves to the side, and I hear the clanking of metal. The buckle on the strap? A hand clamps around my wrist.
You’re fine, you’re fine, you’re fine.
Leather. Caleb wraps the strap around my wrist and pulls it tight. My hand judders as he buckles the strap. Next, he wraps a strap around my head and tightens it across my forehead.
I swallow.
His footsteps, almost inhumanly light, pad behind my head and to the other side. He is going to tie up my other arm. My legs, too? Lucie’s are tied, so I don’t see why he wouldn’t give us the same treatment.
If he doesn’t, I’m pretty sure I could throw my legs up over my head and kick him in the face. I don’t think that would do me much good in the long run, but I would prove that I’m not scared.
Although you are.
Caleb buckles my other wrist, pulling so hard the leather pinches my skin. I grit my teeth at the stinging, but I swallow any cry.
He is going to try and get a reaction, it’s what feeds him, so I’m going to have to try and hold it in.
“Let’s get this show on the road!” he cheers.
I look up as a white towel blocks my view. The thick material lands on my face and panic claws at my throat.
Gripping the side of the bed where my wrists are strapped, I curl my toes and brace myself. His footsteps, suddenly heavy on the cheap laminate floor, thud away from me.
With my eyes closed, I can hear better, smell the floral scent of the fabric softener the towels were washed in.
The very thought of them washing these towels is strange. Why do they care that they’re clean? What does it matter?
Lucie’s fast breathing synchronizes with mine.
Caleb rummages around, and the sound of plastic hitting plastic fills the air. Then pouring water.
I grip the bed harder.
Caleb whistles a tune I don’t recognize as the water stops. He has filled a jug, and now he is coming for me. There is nothing left for him to do. Everything he needed to do to prepare me has been done.
It’s time.
I can’t see anything. My eyes are closed and covered by a towel. Caleb has gone quiet. I don’t know if he’s standing over me or if he’s still over by the far wall.
My pulse and heavy breathing are all I can hear.
Where is he? When is he going to start?
Stay calm, hold your breath, don’t panic.
There is no doubt in my mind that I can get through this. I have to be strong.
In here, I’m not Piper Willis. I don’t really know who I am, but I know that I can get through anything they throw at me.
A heavy weight presses down on my shoulder. Caleb’s hand.
He’s here, right here.
This is when it begins.
The first drop seeps through the towel and hits my lips, pattering onto the towel like a raindrop. But it’s not raining, it’s about to storm.
Another drop hits. My heart slams against my rib cage. I curl my fingers into the thin foam mattress covering the bed.
Heat blows against my ear.
Don’t react.
Caleb’s head is beside mine, his breath grazing my skin and turning my stomach.
“I’m going to enjoy this.” His voice rattles through my body, shaking me to the core.
“Bring it,” I rasp.
Don’t bring it!
Shut up, what are you doing?
He chuckles and then the warmth is gone. He’s stood upright again. How much longer is he going to mess with me?
In no time, Caleb dumps a jug of water on me. The towel caves in, molding to my face, the
weight pushing my head into the mattress. I hold my breath. The jug couldn’t have been big because it’s over in seconds.
Far too easy to be as bad as it gets.
He’s still playing with me. Caleb is going to take his time, make me suffer and try to break me down. It’s him against me, and I have no intention of losing.
23
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!
The Lost Page 12