Three minutes.
Popping the front panel loose with the edge of my knife, I glared at the mess of wires that greeted me. Old, mismatched, and definitely not installed by anyone with a license. Which wasn’t a surprise, because this place looked dodgy as fuck.
Pulling a small tool from my pocket, I got to work, separating the wiring with careful fingers. I twisted two together, producing a soft spark as the door clicked open. I waited a moment, straining my ears for any movement.
Two minutes.
I stepped inside, my eyes scanning the strange hallway that looked like it should be in some lavish mansion rather than whatever the fuck this building was.
One minute.
I turned left, keeping close to the wall as I counteddown in my head. Dipping towards what looked to be a living room, I waited.
Three.
Two.
One.
The lights went out at the same time I slipped on my night vision goggles.
Hen, I owe you one,I thought, trusting my brother to figure it out. I waited for commotion, but again the place was eerily quiet.
Stepping out of the living room, I moved down the hallway on silent feet, opening the doors to peer inside. It was a normal manor, if you got past the gilded cage aesthetic. Every window was boarded shut, and with the power out the whole place was pitch black. Which was highly convenient for me.
Creeping further inside, I paused at a rush of cool air. The door to my right had edged open when everything went dark, the sound of whimpers and cries leaking through the gap. Easing it open further, I stepped inside.
“Holy shit,” I whispered, my hands clamping on the metal banister. A row of people cowered on the floor below, chained to a brick wall and forced to sit on concrete.
I took in the people huddled along the floor, my eyes straining as I scanned every face, desperate for Violet.But she wasn’t here. A curse caught on my tongue, Greta lying flat on her front amongst them. Even with the goggles I could see her naked skin was mottled with bruises, lying so still I wasn’t sure if she was even alive.
I hesitated, just for a second. But unclamping my hands from the banister, I stepped back. Right now, they weren’t my problem, but if Greta was here, Violet had to be in this place.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
I stilled, calming my breathing so I could concentrate on the sound.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
There it was, muffled screams and frantic curses, drawing me toward the far side of the place. A faint glow pierced the darkness in jittery bursts, flooding my goggles with blinding flashes of white. It flickered like candlelight, and I tore the goggles off, blinking hard as my eyes adjusted.
Then I pressed myself to the wall and crept toward the sound, keeping low, keeping silent.
“Let me out!” a familiar voice shrieked.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
Each strike pounded through the hallway, sharp and frantic, making my pulse spike.
“Violet?” I whispered, pressing my hand against the wood.
There was a beat of silence from behind the door, then a strained and disbelieving, “Ryder?”
I moved to the handle immediately, fingers finding the lock. The only light came from the flicker of a fireplace somewhere down the hall, throwing shaky glimmerings across my hands.
But I didn’t need to see to pick a lock. It took me under thirty seconds to align the pins, and I pressed down on the handle. Violet flung herself at me, her arms encircling my neck.
For a heartbeat, panic froze me. My body went rigid, every instinct screaming to flinch, to shove away and break contact. My inhale caught, lungs tightening painfully. Then her scent hit me, and something in me overrode the panic.
