The three of us were standing as close to the doorway as we dared. We leaned back flat against the wall. Carefully, I leaned over and peeked around the doorframe.

It was Grace and Jacob. But they were… laughing? They didn’t seem to be trapped at all.

I glanced around the room, looking for more clues about what was going on here. There were two sleeping bags, and enough food to last at least a few days. They seemed to be talking and joking with each other, leaning up against the back wall. There was nothing keeping them here that I could see. It looked more like they were here for an extended sleepover than because they had been kidnapped and trapped.

I leaned back around the doorframe and looked over at Bess and George. “They seem… fine,” I whispered. “I don’t think they’ve been kidnapped.”

“So what do we do now?” George whispered back. “Call the police?”

Calling the police did seem to be the best idea. I nodded at George and gestured back toward the exit, thinking that we could use the phone at the front desk. The three of us began to turn around, and I watched as Bess’s foot twisted itself in one of the sheets collecting on the ground. She only tripped a little, but it was enough to make her step down too hard and too loudly.

The three of us froze.

“Who’s there?” called Jacob from inside their room. Neither Bess nor George said anything. Instead they both looked at me as if I might tell them what to do next. I wasn’t sure what the best move would be, but I knew we couldn’t let Grace or Jacob get away.

Both of them stepped out of the doorway. They took one look at the three of us, standing in the hallway, and before we could say anything, they both pushed past us and took off running down the cluttered hallway, back the way we’d come.

“Go that way!” I called out to Bess and George, pointing after Grace and Jacob. They both began running, but instead of joining them, I turned and began heading the other way.

Grace and Jacob had been moving quickly, both probably heading for the door behind the bookshelf. I didn’t think we would actually be able to catch them just by running after them. But if this hallway really was a circle, maybe I could run around the other way and head them both off.

I ran as quickly as I was able, the sound of my feet echoing around me. I turned the corner at the end of the hallway, and just like I had seen through the doorway of the left side, this hallway was nearly empty. Grace and Jacob would have to run around crates and statues and sheets, but I could run straight through.

I reached the room at the end of the hall and didn’t stop until I was standing right in front of the doorway behind the bookcase. I turned around and covered the door with my arms, just in time to see Grace and Jacob in the room as well and running toward me. The two of them turned around, about to head back in the other direction, when George and Bess entered the room. Bess had her arm held up in front of her.