“What on earth is he doing here?”

We exchanged a pointed look before we slowly turned around.

Amelia was standing behind us with a horrified expression and a hand on her hip. “You cannot be serious, Evelyn,” she exclaimed and pointed at Seth. “What are you thinking, bringing him here?”

“She didn’t bring me here,” Seth said with a frown. “Believe it or not, I am capable of making decisions for myself.”

Amelia looked over her shoulder like she was expecting a teacher to come around the corner any minute. Lowering her voice, she insistently said, “You need to get out of here!”

“Yes, that’s what we were about to do before you stopped us,”

Seth groaned.

“We? Did you get permission to go out?”

“No, but we figured it was okay because everyone else is going out as well—”

Amelia’s horrified gaze now fixed me. “You’re sneaking out?

Do you really want to get expelled after barely two weeks of being here?”

Seth pinched the bridge of his nose. Downstairs a clock struck nine, only increasing the panicked look on Amelia’s face. I could almost hear her thoughts: only one hour until bedtime.

“Amelia . . .” I sighed, gently putting my hands on her shoulders to make her look at me. “We’re just going out to eat. We’ll be back in two hours or so, all right? It’s not that big a deal.”

“Honestly. We want to get pizza, not commit a bloody felony.”

Amelia stared at Seth like she truly didn’t see the difference between the two. I expected her to continue arguing, but instead she said, “All right then, suit yourselves.”

“You’re not going to tell anyone though, are you?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Amelia snapped, looking insulted that I had even dared to ask. “I’m not a snitch.”

Seth nodded and slowly backed away, his hands raised like he was dealing with a frightened animal. “Okay. So . . . see you at breakfast?”

“Yes,” she snapped. “Now get out of here.”

Seth and I didn’t need to be told twice. Under Amelia’s wary gaze I hurried down the stairs, Seth sliding down the banister next to me.

Once we were downstairs, he led us into the west wing. At the very end of the hallway, there was a door I hadn’t yet gone behind, which led into a huge gym. There, the emergency exit that had been propped open with a brick opened out onto a football field.

It was dark outside already, the night air surprisingly chilly for September. I kept my fingers tucked deep into the pockets of my coat while Seth and I made our way down the same road we had taken when we had first come here. It was only then I realized I hadn’t left the castle since arriving; without being aware of it, my entire world had condensed into one building.

After a few minutes of walking, we reached the train station and from there it was only five more minutes until we found ourselves on the outskirts of Gloomswick. The town lived up to its name: the streets were gloomy and narrow, with old houses made of coarse brick pressing in from both sides. They leaned onto each other like weary elders and as we passed between them, I swore I could hear the tired creaking of the beams, the long-suffering complaining of the roofs that had to brace against the weather. The wind blowing through the dark alleys sounded like a drawn-out sigh, enough to make the hairs at the back of my neck stand on end.