I know that Theo, Hazel, and Priya wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of running, but I’m not at all convinced that Lucie, even knowing what they want, wouldn’t run anyway.

She said she would rather die trying. But she wouldn’t even be trying because there is no hope.

The wall, Piper. Check the damn wall!

I glance to my side and lean against the wall. Hopefully to them, it will just look as if I’m panicking. I can see the slight ridges where the joints of the plasterboard sheets have been taped and filled, and where they then painted the wall white.

Pushing myself back off the wall, I make sure my knuckles knock against the plasterboard and hear that sweet sound I was hoping for. It’s hollow behind. They have built the wall in front of something, and odds are, it’s the window. Why else would they need to build it out if there wasn’t something in the way, like the frame of the window sticking out just past the metal siding of the building?

Ignoring the fact that there could well be something blocking the window and preventing it from opening, like bars, I suspect we could potentially get out this way.

I walk toward the empty room, and the door in front of me clicks. Owen is watching me head to Lucie, unlocking doors as I go.

He has all the control here. I bet his smile is wide, his heart racing for the opposite reason mine is.

My mind doesn’t take anything in as I walk, too busy thinking about what’s about to come and what I’ve found in the waiting room.

There is still the big question of how we would get out. It’s unlikely they stay overnight here since they have homes and families. People would miss them. There are periods where things are quieter than others, like mornings, but that doesn’t mean they’re not watching or that they don’t take shifts.

I stop at the door in front of me. Beyond it is the corridor to hell, lined with doors to rooms that hold nothing put pain. I take a ragged breath as the air around me thins, like I’ve just climbed a mountain. Stepping forward, I reach out and twist the handle.

The hallway to hell stretches out in front of me.

Room five’s door is open wide. I’ve only been along this corridor three times, but the doors have only been open an inch before. As if they like to make us open it ourselves.

I straighten my back and walk to the room with my head held high. They will not get the better of me.

On the outside, they will see me as calm. On the inside, I’m hit by a wave of nausea. I press my hand to my stomach as I round the corner into the room.