I gasp. “Yes, I do,” I whisper, looking into this guy’s wild eyes. He has dark circles and is wincing like the light hurts. His hair is damp, clothes fresh and new. He’s been here.

Turning to Theo, I tell him, “You said yourself, people have gone missing in here. I don’t think they’ve been missing. I think he’s been held somewhere here, or they’ve been moved from room to room, constantly tortured.” I turn back to the guy on the floor.

The guy grips his messy brown hair in his fists and squeezes his eyes closed like he’s fighting something in his mind. Memories, no doubt. I know how that feels.

No one stops me as I take a few steps closer and crouch down. “What’s your name?” I ask.

He stills, muscles bunching under his sweats. Letting go of his hair, he stares up at me like I’m an alien. How long has it been since he’s spoken to another person? “Evan,” he replies, his voice rough like he’s been screaming.

I don’t remember ever seeing his face on a missing poster, but then not everyone is reported as missing or having run away.

“Hi, Evan. I’m Piper. How long have you been here for?”

Shrugging, he sits back. “I don’t know. I was taken in February.”

I suck in a breath. “It’s now August.”

He’s been here for six months.

“August,” he repeats.

“Have you ever been in here?”

He looks around and nods. “Not for a long time, though. I tried to escape with another guy, and they…”

They took them out of here and kept them in the torture rooms.

“I’m so sorry, Evan.”

“I’ll get him a drink,” Priya says from behind me.

Evan must have received food and water, but his eyes are sunken, and his clothes a little baggy. He should have picked up a size smaller than usual.

“Are you hungry?” I ask him.

He nods. “They only gave me bread, soup, water, and the occasional piece of fruit.”

Almost six months of only bread, soup, fruit, and water. They are so cruel. My eyes prickle with unshed tears.

“Come and sit, Evan. We’ll make you something to eat.”

He slams his palm on the wall and rises to his feet. “Who are all of you?” he asks the others.

Theo’s jaw tightens.

“That’s Priya, Lucie, Hazel, and Theo,” I say, pointing to each one so he can put a name to a face. “Theo has been here the longest… Well, besides you. Hazel and I have only been here for about eleven days.”

“You were taken together?”

“Yes,” I reply. “I don’t know if that was their intention since Caleb was talking to me alone earlier in the night, but when he drove past later, Hazel was with me.”