My phone buzzes, and when I look at it, my heart plummets when it isn’t from the app.It’s a text from my father I’m not planning on reading.
Dante sighs.“Sebastian is right.We should all get some sleep.Tomorrow will be a long day.”
“Today’s been a long day.”When I stand, I look toward the room I shared with Sara for a night.Her scent clings to everything in there.Part of me longs to be close to her like that, and the other part feels like it’s just reopening a wound.
“She’s been in all our beds, man.”Dante claps me on the shoulder.“Even the couch smells like her.”
Yeah, that’s not going to change either.When we get her back, we need to be clear on what this is going forward, because I’m done just playing house.
* * *
Sara
I passed out earlier today from sheer exhaustion, but tonight…
I stare up at the ceiling and will myself to sleep.Drugs would have been nice compared to just lying here wondering what the guys are doing.How are they coping with me being missing?
Do they even know where I am?
I throw off the covers and stand.I’m dressed in my jeans and sweater because I want to be able to go at a moment’s notice.Even my sneakers are right next to the bed.
Turning on the lamp, I look at the walls.Maybe the windows aren’t the only way to escape.Sometimes old houses like these have secret hallways.For the servants to wander through so they aren’t seen in the main area.But right now, if that’s the case, they could be my way out.
Of course, Peter is intelligent, so if they exist, he’d know and there wouldn’t be an actual way out.But fuck it.I’m not tired and I’m bored.
I walk over to the door and turn the knob.Locked.
At some point, someone’s going to fuck up and I’m going to jump on that.For now, I run my fingers along the wall, looking for an indent.Checking the wood panels for any sort of lip or place that doesn’t quite connect.
Then I go through and knock lightly on the walls.I’m looking for something that sounds hollow, but fuck if I’d recognize it when I found it.When I’ve canvassed the entire room, I turn to the bathroom.
Nothing.
Then I move to the wardrobe and check the back of it.Maybe I’ll find Narnia.Anything is better than this place.Again, nothing.
I sit on the edge of the bed.Furniture is sparse in the room, but I could pick up the end table and try to break the window.I narrow my eyes on it.It’s probably double-paned.The noise would wake someone, and if it didn’t, I could cut myself accidentally and bleed to death before morning.
But I can’t just sit here and do nothing.There has to be something I can do to escape.
If the building was on fire, they’d have to let me out and the firetrucks would come and a firefighter could rescue me.But I don’t have any matches.I blow out a breath.
Maybe if I threw something at the glass from far enough away I wouldn’t get any cuts?There’s nothing really heavy enough that I could lob from a distance.Even the lamp would probably fall on the ground before hitting the window and wake up whoever is guarding me.
Can I even make a rope to lower myself down?
I stand and pull the blanket off the bed.Then I grab the sheet.I go along the edge all the way around and tug to see if it will rip.But studying the rolled hem, that seems impossible.
I need something to cut it.The windows draw my attention, but breaking it would make too much noise.There’s no way they won’t figure that out.Someone would notice the glass below the window.Dropping the sheet, I grab the lamp that’s been off and take it apart.
None of the pieces are sharp, though.I sigh and put it back together until I’m screwing in the light bulb.It is glass…
I glance at the door and check outside, but there’s no way to tell what time it is.The sun isn’t coming up, so it must still be the middle of the night.What’s the likelihood someone is guarding my door?No one came in when I knocked on the walls.
I strip a pillowcase off and toss the pillow back on the bed.This is stupid.This is stupid.I shouldn’t do this.Worst case, I get a little nick or tear up the pillowcase, but it would give me something to cut the sheet, which would help me climb down if I figure out how to break the window.
I slide the light bulb into the pillowcase and take it into the bathroom.The vent fan is on and I run the water, closing the door to the bedroom to help dampen the noise.With my shoe in my hand, I hit the light bulb and it gives.
The break doesn’t actually make a noise, or at least not that I can hear over everything else.Opening the pillowcase, I inspect what I have.Lots of tiny shards of glass, but around the base of the light bulb are a few bigger pieces.And with the base as a handle, I should be able to use it to cut the sheet.
