‘Ad, how long have I been out? And where are we?’ Emerson’s hoarse, scratchy voice coupled with her stuffy nose made her sound like a decades-long smoker with laryngitis.

‘I don’t know,’ Addis croaked. ‘We could be in the middle of town or up in the mountains. Whatever he drugged us with is messing with my head, so I don’t even know if we’ve been in here for hours or days.’

‘It doesn’t really matter, though, because it already feels like forever,’ Emerson whispered.

‘Em, I’m so sorry. If you hadn’t been with me, then—’

Emerson didn’t let her finish. ‘Hit the brakes! It’s not your fault.’ Labored breaths filled with fear stretched across the claustrophobic space between them.

An explosive clap of thunder buried Addis’s response and shook their prison’s foundation. After her heart stopped climbing the walls of her throat, she forgot about the insects, the smell, the dampness, and everything else except this horror show she and her best friend had a starring role in. ‘Em, listen to me. Someone’s going to come for us.’

‘Yeah, but what if that someone is him? What if he’s still here? Or what if he’s gone, and he’s never planning on coming back? We’ll either starve to death or the animals will eat us.’ Loud groans filled the air. ‘I don’t want some giant rat to eat me. What if I’m still alive, and I feel all of it?’

Addis wished she could clap her hands over her ears. She needed Em to stop not only because those were her fears, too, but because she was afraid she’d fixate on the images being planted in her head.

‘Em, you know Aunt Grace isn’t going to rest until we’re back home, even if that means she has to personally search under every rock and inside every cave in this country. And there’s Uncle Mack, and even if it’s for no other reason than to make him look good to the outside world, he’ll hire an army if that’s what it takes.’ She prayed her declarations weren’t merely empty promises. ‘We can help them if we can find a way to get loose and get out of here.’

Emerson’s sobs turned into hiccups as they slowly ebbed. ‘Do you really believe that?’

No. Maybe, Addis thought to herself. ‘Yes,’ she said out loud.

When Em finally spoke again, determination replaced the tremor in her voice. ‘Okay then. Can you wiggle around so your back is to me?’