by Dylan Steel
“No more,” he said menacingly. “You know I can’t tell you anything.”
She grabbed desperately at his hand and whimpered softly. Even with her training, she was no match for his size and strength, especially when there was nowhere to run. His eyes widened when he realized he was hurting her, and he loosened his grip slightly, just enough to relieve the pain but not nearly enough that she could slip free.
Without another word, Sam led her back to the Transfer. Her stomach lurched as they plummeted downward, but while she was under his strong arm, she was in no danger of losing her balance from the sudden motion. He didn’t take his hand off her shoulder for even a moment during the trip or as he escorted her back to her room.
“Don’t do that anymore,” he said gruffly, releasing his hold. She stumbled forward and turned to face him, eyes pleading. He hadn’t scared her this much since her first day in this place.
“I didn’t mean to—”
“I’m not your friend, and I’m not here to answer your questions.”
Sage’s mouth opened and closed a few times numbly. She was unsure how to respond.
“Sam, I—”
“And don’t call me Sam anymore either.”
5. A CONVERSATION
In the weeks that had passed since the argument on the rooftop, Sage’s imprisonment had somehow become even more lonely. Could she even call it an argument? The bizarre incident. Whatever.
Sam had completely shut down since she’d pelted him with questions. Obviously, she now knew it had been a big mistake. But she hadn’t thought that things could get worse. Now, she knew she’d been wrong.
He’d finally forbidden her to call him Sam, but she still called him by it in her mind. One time she’d slipped up, saying it out loud when he was going over her math lesson with her. Even though they were only halfway through her practice set, he’d immediately left her alone in her room.
Like before, he still delivered her meals, escorted her to and from the roof, and assisted her with her assignments—he was just more stoic and aloof than before. She hadn’t even realized that was possible.
Being stuck in this room was driving her crazy, even with a daily trip outside.
Maybe it was a good thing, she reasoned. She hadn’t been trying nearly hard enough to find a way out of this place. Not since Sam had caught her trying to scale the Transfer’s exterior wall. It was clear she needed to try harder, to get more creative. Her guard definitely wasn’t going to give up any information, so it was all up to her.
She straightened at the familiar sound of footsteps approaching down the hall. Pushing her databook away, she scrambled off her bed and onto her feet. Sam’s patience wore much thinner these days, so she tried to be completely ready when he arrived. While it didn’t put him in a better mood not to wait on her, it at least seemed not to further stoke his temper. And it was always better not to be stuck on the roof with someone with a rotten attitude.
To her surprise, the footsteps stopped in the middle of the hallway. That was unusual. Sam was always focused, efficient. And his were the only footsteps she’d ever heard before.
When a few seconds passed and he still hadn’t resumed his trek to her room, Sage’s heart started racing. Was something wrong? If something had happened to Sam and he was acting alone, she could be stuck in the room until she withered away. She’d be completely forgotten and never see the sky again.
She scolded herself. Panicking wouldn’t solve anything. And besides, she was almost positive that Sam wasn’t acting alone. If he were, she doubted he would have continued letting her outside after trying to scale the Transfer—not to mention peppering him with questions.
Taking a deep breath, she tiptoed to the door and put her ear against the crack. She quieted her breathing, straining to hear what was taking him so long.
Sam was mumbling something in a low voice. Her brows knitted together in confusion. Why was he talking to himself?
Her eyes widened a moment later when a second voice responded, also in a low mumble. It sounded so similar, she was no longer sure the first voice she’d heard was Sam.
Now she was certain Sam wasn’t working alone.
She craned her neck, pressing her ear harder against the door. Although it was difficult to make out what was being said, she could tell from their heated tones that they were arguing about something. Whatever it was, it sounded serious.
Their voices were growing louder. Sage was able to make out a few words as the argument outside her room intensified.
“—can’t keep her in the dark forever.”
“We can and we will. You know what the consequences would be if she knew. Catastrophic. For all of us—including her.”
Sage frowned. Who were they talking about? Her? She held her breath, hoping to hear more.
“It’s cruel, sir.” She was fairly certain this voice belonged to Sam.
“It’s necessary.”
“They wouldn’t have wanted this. And she never agreed—”
“That’s where you’re wrong.”
Sage frowned. They had to be talking about someone else. Sam had never asked her opinion on anything, never asked her to agree to anything. But who else would they be talking about?
She heard Sam mumble something in response, but she couldn’t make out the words.
“No. It doesn’t matter at the moment. Negotiations have stalled. We can’t move forward until they agree to—”
Sam interrupted him, but Sage still couldn’t make out what he was saying. She pressed her ear against the door even harder. It was starting to feel like someone had set it on fire, but she didn’t dare ease up from her perch. This was the most information she’d gotten in months, and she wasn’t about to stop listening just because her ear hurt a little.
“—wouldn’t dare… your assignment… what you’re told.”
Now even the other man’s voice was getting harder to understand. They must have realized they were talking too loudly. She wrinkled her nose in frustration as she strained to make out Sam’s mumblings.
“You know why!” The second man’s voice rang out loudly again. Sage smirked. It was quite helpful when he got angry.
“It’s their own laws. They have to agree. You know we hold all the power in this. And they can’t do anything about it. Unless you screw it up. So don’t.”
“Of course not, sir,” Sam’s voice growled sarcastically.
Sir? Was this the person in charge? From Sam’s tone, Sage guessed that he answered to the other man—and that he wasn’t thrilled about it.
Sage’s eyes widened as she realized she was hearing footsteps again. This time, however, they appeared to be moving in the opposite direction of her room. A door slammed. She winced at its volume. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, coaxing her hearing back to normal.
A moment later, she realized another set of footsteps was coming toward her. Fast. She hastily launched herself away from the door, stumbling backward.
She was still unsure of what she’d just overheard, but she knew she didn’t want Sam to know she’d caught any part of the conversation. But how could she convince him of that?
Her mind was racing, and the footsteps were falling heavier now, getting steadily louder as they approached. Looking around the room in desperation, she lunged for the bathroom door. She managed to pull it shut behind her quickly and quietly.
In the hallway, Sam’s hand scraped against the door. Heart pounding, Sage mashed the lever on the toilet. She had to hope he’d heard the flush and would assume she couldn’t have heard any part of his conversation since she’d been in the bathroom the whole time.
The click and clang of her exterior door opening made her stomach lurch. Despite the distasteful sensation rising in her throat, she forced herself to slow her breathing and go through the motions of her charade, quickly turning on the faucet, running her hands under the water.
She patted her hands dry with the towel and opened the door with as much
nonchalance as she could muster.
“Oh, hi.”
Sam stood silently at the end of her room. She breathed as slowly as she could manage, reminding herself that this wasn’t unusual. He spoke to her as little as possible these days. Still, he didn’t normally stand there that long without saying anything, did he? It was impossible to know. Her emotions were messing with her, and she was sure it only felt like time was stretching on much longer than it was. Probably.
Not trusting her voice not to betray her, she tilted her head in an unspoken question.
Her guard remained unmoving. He quietly stared at her from behind the slits in his mask.
Unable to stand the silence a moment longer, Sage risked speaking. With great effort, she bargained with her subconscious to act perfectly naturally.
“Well? Am I going to the roof today?”
She crossed her arms and leaned against the wall.
He continued looking at her without saying a word. Her stomach flipped over on itself, writhing painfully as fear began to eat at her. She felt his gaze analyzing every inch of her stance, looking for some sort of hint as to whether or not she had heard what was said in the hallway.
Eprah’s name. They’re going to kill me. Sage bit the inside of her cheek. She tried to maintain a cool exterior, but she was poised to run. No, they’re not. If they were going to kill you, they would’ve already. Calm down. Breathe. Calm down. Calm down. Calm—
He took a step toward her.
“Ready?”
She took a half-step backward, pressing her toes against the wall for a sprinting assist before she realized he was only asking if she was ready for her daily rooftop excursion.
“Uh, yeah.” She nodded, her muscles relaxing slightly.
Sam turned and walked out of the room. Sage let out a soft exhale and rolled her eyes. Apparently, asking her to follow him would have been too much effort. At least, for now, he seemed to have bought her act of ignorance.
A jumbled mess of new questions flew through her mind as she trailed after Sam. It had almost sounded like her captors answered to someone else. She’d suspected for quite awhile that Sam wasn’t in charge, but who was? The other man in the hallway? Given that Sam had mentioned someone else’s wishes, she wasn’t so sure about that. And who else were they talking about? What negotiations had stalled?
Sage barely managed to stop her eyebrows from wrinkling in thought. She scolded herself. It was still important to keep up appearances. Sam could easily have seen that she was deep in thought if he’d turned around.
She quickly switched from berating herself to running through what she’d overheard again. Shuddering, she realized what was perhaps the most frightening revelation of all—her captors said that they held all the power.
Whatever they wanted her for, it sounded like they were going to get it. Unless she stopped them.
6. CLUES
Waiting every day for an opportunity to escape was torture. Sage had no idea when the chance to run would come, but in the meantime, she had figured out a way to get on top of the Transfer without injuring herself. Probably.
Once on top of it, she hoped to be able to see enough of her surroundings to point her in the right direction when she did find an opening to escape. It was barely a thread of a hope, but at the moment, it was all she had. Unfortunately, the plan required two things: Sam leaving her alone and the weather turning cold. And even then, she’d only get one shot. Colder weather was just a matter of patience. Being left alone was another matter altogether—one that seemed less and less likely.
She could only hope she had the luxury of waiting. And that she had the nerve to follow through.
Today, however, was just like every other day. No slip-ups by her captors, no chance of making a break for it. Just another day of routine, and now she was heading outside for her daily allotment of sunshine.
Pursing her lips, Sage fell in step behind Sam, making her way into the Transfer after him. Unfortunately, both her room and the Transfer remained locked without his access, and despite everything she’d thought of, she couldn’t come up with any way around using him to escape. Several times, she’d considered the desperate move of attacking him directly, hoping to knock him out with a lucky blow. But she’d always decided against it—both because it was incredibly doubtful that she’d succeed and because she needed him to access the palm lock on the Transfer.
Ironically, she’d have better luck escaping if she could convince Sam to help her, but she knew that was never going to happen. She smiled bitterly at the thought of having to rely on her jailer for any hope of freedom.
She rolled her head to the side, looking at her guard out of the corner of her eye. In the time since she’d overheard his conversation in the hallway, neither of them had said or done anything to indicate that it had taken place at all. That was fine with her. She was still worried about what he’d do if he found out. Not that she could make sense of anything he’d said anyway. It was beyond crushing to know that the first clues she’d gotten in months were so vague.
Exhaling softly, she tried to focus on the good parts of the day. At least she was going to the roof. The only semblance of freedom she had was when she was under the sky—but even that was tainted by the constant watching presence of her guard. She seemed unable to shake her miserable attitude today.
Her eyes dropped to Sam’s feet. His boots had flecks of mud at their edges. She frowned. She’d never noticed that before. Not that it helped her leave either.
Sage lifted her gaze as the Transfer came to its jerky stop. The door slid open, and she stepped forward onto the roof. To her surprise, she didn’t hear Sam’s footsteps following. She turned around, shooting him a look of confusion. “Coming?”
“No. I’m not staying with you today.”
She looked at him incredulously. “You’re not?”
“No.”
“Why?” As soon as the question left her lips, she cringed inwardly. Are you trying to get him to change his mind?
As usual, Sam’s only response was silence. He remained in the Transfer, swiping his hand across the wall.
“I’ll be back. You’ll have your normal half hour.”
Sage gaped at him as the door closed between them. The Transfer whirred as it descended back into the building.
She stared in disbelief at the door for a moment longer, fully expecting it to reopen and for Sam to burst out, catching her in the middle of doing something she wasn’t supposed to.
When the door remained shut, Sage felt a surge of hope rising in her chest. She only had half an hour, but since she wasn’t being watched, it felt like she had much more time than she normally did.
A quick glance around the rooftop reassured her that she was, in fact, alone. She took a deep breath and began circling the Transfer, examining it closely from every angle.
Laughing ruefully to herself, she realized it was a good thing that Sam had been helping her improve in her studies since she’d been there. She’d learned angles and formulas and had even begun to grasp some basic principles of physics. And she hadn’t wasted any time in applying her newfound understanding.
She’d been careful to measure the distance from the Transfer to the wall, and she’d done it right under Sam’s nose, counting her steps as she pretended to play on the roof. He’d thought she was acting as a foolish child, trying to balance perfectly along an invisible line, but she was actually gathering all the information she could. She’d verified each distance from multiple points and angles, checking and double checking her footstep counts. That was how she knew she’d be able to see over the edge of the wall if she could just make it on top of the Transfer. She’d actually taken the time to confirm her line of sight would make it over the edge of the wall and be worth the risk.
And it would be quite a risk. Carrying out her plan would mean alerting Sam and whoever else was there of her intention to escape—of the fact that she had never stopped trying, and that they couldn’t trust her
even with a seemingly harmless daily rooftop excursion. Ideally, she’d notice a way out once she managed to get on top of the Transfer, but if that didn’t work, she might be quashing any hope of escape just by trying to get a better idea of where she was.
It was a huge gamble, but without having any other ideas or opportunities to escape, she didn’t see that she had a choice. In the months she’d been in this place, Sam hadn’t let his guard down enough to make any mistakes—none that would allow her to leave—and she couldn’t wait and rely on him to do so.
But now—if Sam wasn’t staying with her on the roof anymore, she might have a fighting chance at pulling off her plan.
She fought back the flutter of excitement in her stomach. Hope had disappointed her countless times before. For now, she would just have to rely on her plans rather than possibilities.
Sighing in resignation, Sage paused planning her escape strategy for a moment to take in her current surroundings. The sky was gray today, another indicator that time was still marching forward. It was already fall, and she was still trapped in this place. She frowned.
A rush of wind caught her hair, throwing it messily in front of her eyes. An unpleasantly large wad landed in her mouth. She sputtered and tried to tame the rest of it by running her hand along the edge of her face, wishing she’d had the sense to tie it back before allowing it to get all tangled.
Her hand grazed something rough as she ran her fingers through strands of hair. It crunched beneath her touch. She froze. Had she just smashed an insect with her bare hands? Her face screwed up in horror as she leaned forward and whimpered, swatting at her hair in desperation, trying to rid herself of the unwelcome creature.
To her relief, her hand brushed forward some small, light brown debris that didn’t resemble bug remnants. She picked a flat piece out of her hair, furrowing her brows as she tried to figure out what it was. It looked almost like paper, but it was more rigid and had sharp edges.
She ran her hand through her hair again, picking out another piece and another until her fingers enclosed around a much larger piece of the unknown intrusion. Dragging it through her hair in front of her eyes, she sucked in a quick breath. It was a leaf.