That’s it, and honestly, fair. If I were her, I wouldn’t be eager to chat with a stranger either. I’m new, I’m from the outside, and I can’t even begin to guess what’s ricocheting around inside her head. Even so, whether she realizes it or not, I might be her best shot at getting out of this.
I turn back to Hailey.
“Why didn’t you wake me up?” I ask again.
“We don’t wake each other up,” she says.
“What? Why?”
“When you’re asleep is the only time you’re not here.” She says it like it should be obvious, like it’s a kindness. “I thought you will be happy.”
Goddamn it.
Why, in all the torture of my nightmares, couldn’t I have gotten one sharp enough to snap me fully awake. Instead I floated up and down the surface, half-waking and slipping under again, never reaching the point where my consciousness caught up with reality.
I should have been awake to see what happened. Did the killer change the tire? Are we still in the city? What did I miss while I was out?
But it’s pointless trying to explain that sleep matters less to me than information. In their world, that kind of thinking doesn’t translate anymore.
So I do what I can. I push myself up and inch toward the tiny window, needing something, anything, that might give me a clue. The van hits a bump and my stomach lurches. I fling out my hands on instinct, catching myself against the wall before I can topple over.
“Why aren’t your hands tied?” Hailey asks.
Oh, shit. Right.
I’m grateful my face isn’t aimed directly at her as I close my eyes for a moment, collecting myself. Then I glance over my shoulder.
“I bit through the zip ties,” I say.
“With your teeth?” she presses.
“Yes.”
I don’t even know if that’s humanly possible, but what else am I supposed to tell her? I’m not about to disclose that a fucking Grim Reaper cut them with her scythe.
I hold Hailey’s gaze, waiting for the disbelief to land. She just stares back at me for a beat, then drops her eyes to her own zip ties like she’s trying to measure them against the strength of a jaw.
“Do you have fake teeth or something?” she asks eventually.
“Yup,” I reply. “Had, um… had an accident in my youth. Needed to replace all my front ones.”
“Fucking lucky…” she mutters.
The way she says it sends a rush of adrenaline straight through me, and my thoughts start sprinting, a thousand miles an hour.
“But one is my limit, I think,” I add quickly. “I think something broke in my jaw.”
I cannot have her thinking I can bite hers off too. As much as I want to help her, I honestly do not think I would be able to do that.
“Yeah, I figured as much,” Hailey says. “When I tried to bite off mine, I chipped a tooth. I heard the one before me, the girl Lila knew, actually lost one.”
Okay. I really did not need to know that. My empty stomach churns at the image, and I can already feel nausea creeping up. And they aren’t done. If anything, the topic seems to invigorate Lila. She wraps her hands around her knees and shakes her head hard.
“Yeah, the blood was everywhere,” she says. “I still have the stains on my back.”
She starts to turn around to show me, but I stop her before she can.
“I believe you,” I say quickly. “That must have been awful.”
