“Stop. It’s really okay. I’m glad it wasn’t you in there. And, as you can see, I’m fine.” My fingers find the friendship bracelet around my wrist.

You’re not fine.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not especially.”

Her hand covers mine, stopping me from fiddling with the bracelet. “Will you talk to me about it anyway?” she asks softly.

Sighing, I drop my hand. “What do you want me to say? It was awful. I don’t remember a lot because once my body got too hot or too cold I passed out, but I can still feel the pain from the heat and then the cold.”

I don’t want to talk to her about how I ache and how my head feels like it’s being drilled from the inside out. It’ll only feed her guilt. It was my choice to volunteer in her place, and I don’t regret my decision. Hazel is the closest thing I have to a sister, and she isn’t dealing with being here as well as I seem to be.

Who knew I could be so calm and positive when faced with torture and possible death?

Don’t go there.

Her eyes widen. “God, Piper, I’m so sorry. We have to get out of here. There has to be a way.”

“I know we do.” I just don’t know how. There are so many doors, a building like this would have more than one exit. If it was used as a place of work, there would have to be emergency exits. I don’t remember seeing any from the outside, but then I wasn’t looking, and we only saw the front of the building.

She shakes her head. “How did you get through it?”

“I knew it wouldn’t last forever.” It helped that I went somewhere else, my body unable to handle the extreme temperatures and half shutting down. Before that it was hell, but I got through it in one piece. “I had to stay calm and get through it.”

“You’re amazing, Piper.”

“No, I’m just trying to survive.”

She shakes her head. “You’re trying to help me survive, too. I don’t know what’s wrong. I’ve always thought I would be stronger in extreme situations like this. Not that I pictured this exactly, but you know what I mean? Every horror movie we watch, we talk about what the characters should have done and how dumb they are for not doing it. I don’t know why, but I’m the one not doing it.”

“You’re being too hard on yourself, Haze. The reality of this is light-years from what you could ever imagine. You think you understand fear, but…”

“Yeah,” she replies.

“Theo’s gone?” Kevin asks, leaning against the bedroom door frame.

“He was called. You didn’t hear?” I ask.