Rachel was used to Faye’s bold directness that sometimes seemed to border on cruel honesty, so she was surprised when she angled her body toward Cheyenne and spoke softly. ‘You shouldn’t feel guilty about that. And no one here blames you.’

The silence that fell after Cheyenne’s admission and Faye’s proclamation was heavy with fear and more dread of the unknown.

Becca bit down on her bottom lip and shifted on her mattress, being the first to break into the sudden hushed quiet of their enclosure. ‘What’s the last thing you remember before—’ Her gaze focused on the cell door as if afraid the upstairs occupants would hear.

The question hung in the air, the weight of it heavier the longer it went unanswered. Finally, Jersey spoke. ‘I’d gone for a walk to clear my head.’ She sniffled and ran a finger under her nose before wiping the moisture on the side of the mattress. ‘I was leaving the duck pond at UNM’ – her breathing turned into short, gasping pants, and her hushed words fell out more quickly – ‘I heard someone following me’ – she drew her legs in and wrapped her arms around her knees, shaking back and forth – ‘and then someone attacked me from behind.’ Wild eyes flickered between the others before shifting to the stairs and staying. ‘Something jabbed me in the neck… I remember a hotel, I think, and a car trunk before waking up here.’

The meager contents of Rachel’s stomach threatened a reappearance, and she had to swallow several times before she trusted herself to speak. ‘My friend Anna wanted me to go with her to a frat party.’

‘Is that the friend you asked about when you were brought in?’ Becca asked.

Tendrils of fear and pain wrapped around Rachel’s insides, and she nodded. ‘Yes. I wouldn’t even be here if I’d stayed home like I wanted.’ She closed her eyes, afraid to see shame on the others’ faces at her admission. ‘I feel really bad blaming her because I don’t know where she is or what happened to her. I’m pretty sure someone drugged my drink at the party, so I went to find Anna so we could go. When I fell asleep, she was lying right next to me. And now here I am.’

Becca shared her story next. ‘A girl I didn’t know but who seemed familiar asked to borrow my phone because she’d left hers at school. I said sure, and the next thing I knew, I was waking up in this cell with Cheyenne and Meghan staring at me.’

Almost too quiet to hear, Katelyn spoke next. ‘I was on my way home when a girl approached me and asked me to help find her phone.’ She gripped the edges of her hunter green robe, bunching the material into her fists. ‘My mom and dad will be looking for me – I know it. They’re going to find me.’ It was like she was miles away as her eyes shifted to the window, repeating the same thing over and over.