Kristi Bentz had done this to her. What a freak. Wiping the back of her hand over her lips, Ariel caught sight of her reflection in the mirror. Her skin was pale, her fingers tight over the neck of the cold bottle, her eyes round with fear.

Maybe she should just run.

Like the others.

How long would it take to pack a bag and disappear?

It wasn’t as if she hadn’t done it before.

Leave now, tonight. Before you change your mind. Hop a bus and get the hell out of here.

Could she just not show up?

She walked to the closet and reached to the upper shelf for her big backpack, the one she camped with, the one that could hold almost all of her pitiful belongings. She was dragging it down when her cell phone rang.

Her heart sank as she plucked the phone from her purse, read the screen, and realized that he was calling.

As if he’d known.

Her heart knocked wildly at the thought of hearing his voice, of knowing that he cared, that he loved her….

She didn’t answer, let the call go to voice mail, and within minutes she heard his steps on the stairs and a rap of his knuckles on the tarnished panels.

“Ariel,” he said, his voice low, melodic, and insistent. “Open the door.”

Shivering, water surrounding her, Kristi tried to swim. She was in the middle of a pool, in a building that was dark as night. A few candles had been placed on the tile rim and their little flames flickered and threatened to die in this cavern.

Where the hell was she?

Gasping, feeling as if she’d been treading water for hours, she glanced around. Was she alone? She looked downward, toward the bottom of the pool, but it was deep and dark, and though she saw no one in the Stygian depths, she felt his presence. As surely as if he were breathing against her skin.

Swim, Kristi, for God’s sake get the hell out of here!

She kicked hard, took a big gulp of the stagnant air, and began stroking. Hard. Toward the nearest edge. She didn’t understand why, but deep in her heart she knew that something, someone evil, was hiding in the water, skulking in the shadows, where a fine mist rose toward a ceiling she couldn’t see.

Don’t think about it, just get the hell out of here. You’re a strong swimmer, you are.

Stroke! Stroke! Stroke!

She forced herself to cut through the water, her legs to kick, but her limbs felt leaden and no matter how hard she tried, she got no closer to the edge. Either it was shrinking away from her or she was just treading water.