Before any of them can say anything, the speaker breaks in, as if he has been sitting behind the computer, watching us for days on end. He probably has.

“Your task for today, and if you skip, your first day will reset and you will be here longer.”

“How long are we in here for?” Royce asks, stepping closer to the camera. He jerks his finger up at it. “How many days?”

Silence. A deep chuckle rips through. “That’s not for you to know right now.”

Royce sinks into the bed as the final emotion washes over his face. Defeat.

“I want a show.” His voice is laden with a fake sense of power. Something he thinks he has but doesn’t. “I want all four of you to give me that. Let’s see how much you can all follow instructions, and just maybe—maybe I’ll let you eat tonight.” I swallow back the chuckle that threatens up my throat. There were whispers around TI about how Skully’s brother was worse than him. How he was the darker of the duo who bared nothing but evil. Skully is fucked up in himself, so the thought that there’s an even worse twin is almost too depressing to think about.

“Wicked, I want you and Royce together.”

Our eyes collide. “Together?”

Royce steps backward until his back hits the glass wall. “Together?”

“Hold up!” Storm stands from the bed, his hands high. “What the fuck is this? You can’t do this.” My eyes weaken as the room starts to tip sideways. I try to open them wider, desperate to gain clarity, but the colors of the room all mix together. Sweat drips down my forehead and my throat tightens. I reach for it, needing to rip it open to get oxygen in again.

I can’t breathe. I can’t see.

“What was that, Storm? I can’t do what exactly?” K Diamond says, and I fall sideways to the ground, my hand holding my throat as it closes in around me. “Because I can do whatever I want.” Slowly I feel my throat open up, and see the trees above the igloo, gaining clarity again. The skies open up and the sun stares down at me, pelting against my hot skin. “Now, Royce and Wicked? I want to see you both.” I crawl up the wall, pushing off the floor by the palms of my hands and wiping away the sweat that has fallen down the crack of my back.

Royce stumbles closer to me as I lift myself from the ground.

“For the record,” I say, flicking his forehead. “I’m not gay, but my dick is gonna like what it’s gonna like.”