"You'll see."
She turned and kept walking.
I followed.
The building was abandoned.
Boarded windows. A chain on the door. Graffiti on the walls—names and dates and messages I couldn't read. She pulled a key from her pocket and unlocked the padlock, and the chain fell to the ground with a sound like a body hitting concrete.
"After you."
"Ladies first."
"I insist."
I stepped inside.
The hallway was dark. The air was thick with dust and decay and something else—something metallic, something that reminded me of blood. I could hear her behind me, her heels clicking against the floor, her breath soft and steady.
"Where are we?"
"A safe house. A place Gabriel used before the Institute."
"He never mentioned it."
"There's a lot he never mentioned."
We walked deeper into the building. The walls were covered in mold. The floor was covered in debris. The ceiling was covered in water stains that looked like maps of countries I'd never visited.
"He's not here."
"I know."
"Then why did you bring me here?"
"Because I wanted to show you something."
She stopped in front of a door. It was different from the others—newer, sturdier, with a lock that gleamed in the darkness.
"Open it."
"Why?"
"Because the truth is inside."
I reached for the handle.
The lock was warm.
The room was empty.
White walls. No windows. A single chair in the center of the floor, facing away from me.
"What is this?"
"This is where he kept us. Before you. Before the Institute. Before he decided we weren't worth keeping."
"There's no one here."
