I rub my wrists, little red welts bumping my porcelain skin. “I don’t know.” I scratch at the welts, but Aiden pulls my hand away.

“Scratching at it is only going to make it worse.” He picks up the metal cup, liquid swishing around inside. “Come one. I’ll show you around.”

He walks out the door. But before I step out, I skeptically peer out, wanting to see what I’m getting into.

“No one’s going to hurt you here,” he says, waving for me to follow. “I promise.”

I step out, still cautious. “What is this place?” Lanterns track the ceiling, lighting up the darkness of the dirt tunnel. We start down it, passing door after door, and I keep my senses on high alert.

My throat feels dry and I realize how thirsty I am. “What’s in the cup?”

He covers the top with his hand. “Nothing important. And nothing you’d want to drink. I don’t think anyway.”

“So where’s Maci?” I ask, my eyes following the lanterns.

“Maci’s with Ryder,” he answers, making me cringe. “And the other one’s being detained.”

I stop. “You found Bernard? And you locked up?”

“We had to lock him up,” he says. “He’s unstable right now.”

I think of the medicine Bernard injected, wondering what it was, but not saying anything about it. This place seems nervous and I don’t want to bring anymore suspicion toward us.

“And you left Maci with that horrible girl with the funny hair and weird markings on her arms?” I ask.

“Ryder’s not that bad.” He reaches for my hand, but I pull back. “Kayla, we had to lock him up,” he says. “He tried to kill you.”

I touch my neck, remembering the sharp stab. “How exactly did he try to kill me?”

He nods his head at the end of the tunnel. “Come with me and I’ll explain.”

I reluctantly follow, but my fingers itch for my knife. “Where’d you put all my stuff?”

He shoots me a perplexed look as he removes a lantern from the ceiling. “Your stuff?”

“You know, my jacket, my knife, and everything else.”

“Oh that.” He looks like he’s hiding something, but he’s heart suggest otherwise. “We put it away … you can have it back, though. When we’re done.”

“Done with what?”

He winks at me. “You’ll see.” The dim glow of the lantern lights up against his eyes as he leads me further down the tunnel. “So that Maci kid is a little weird,” he says.

“She’s just young,” I lie because really I agree with him. Maci has been acting strange, with her sensing things and sporadic states of euphoria. It’s kind of creepy. And very similar to me.

“And that boy named Bernard,” he pauses, deliberating. “Well, he’s kind of an ass.”