Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 79148 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79148 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
I only have a few more minutes left before the guard who normally walks these halls comes back from his toilet break. This was a big one. I know because I’ve watched him all this time to figure out his schedule—when he pees, when he eats, when he relieves himself, and when he changes shifts.
I know everything I need to know in order to make a swift escape. So I quickly go to work on Anna’s door, jamming the same bobby pin inside. It only takes me a few seconds to get this one too, and when the lock pops, my heart begins to race.
I swiftly open Anna’s door and burst inside, shutting it behind me.
She’s lying on the bed, but her eyes are open, and she leans up when she spots me.
“I thought Tobias was coming to—” she mutters.
“It’s me,” I interrupt, trying to keep my voice down. “Amelia.”
Her eyes widen, and she sits up straight, her black locks falling over her shoulder. “Amelia?”
My eyes water, and I nod. “Yes. I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner.”
“But how?” she asks, shaking her head as though she’s utterly confused. “I thought only Tobias had a key?”
“They all have a key,” I reply, and I hold up my bobby pin. “But now I have one too.”
“That’s not a key. How did you …?” Her pupils dilate. “What’s your plan?”
“Escape,” I say as I approach her bed and grab her hand. “C’mon.”
When I try to pull her up, she resists and jerks her hand away. “No, I can’t.”
I frown. “C’mon, Anna, we don’t have time for this.”
“I can’t leave,” she says, folding her arms.
What’s wrong with her? “What? Why not?”
“Tobias told me to stay. Said I needed this,” she replies.
“Tobias is a liar. They all are,” I spit back.
She makes a face. “But you don’t know him. How could you say that?”
“I don’t need to know him. They trapped us here, Anna. We’re prisoners.”
“Only because we deserve it,” she replies.
I grab her shoulders. “Anna. Stop. This isn’t you. I just know it isn’t.”
“You don’t know me either.” She looks me dead in the eyes. “This is what I need.”
“You can’t be serious,” I say. “Look at me. You don’t deserve any of this. You did nothing wrong, you hear me? Those men are monsters, and they are using you for their own pleasure.”
“But … Tobias is trying to fix me,” she says, licking her lips as she looks away. “He told me this is what needed to be done.”
“They’re making you believe what they want you to believe. You have to trust me,” I say.
“I have to listen,” she says as a tear rolls down her cheeks. “You don’t know what I’ve done …”
“It doesn’t matter, okay?” I say, forcing her to look at me by matching her movements so our eyes connect. “Whatever you did, it’s in the past. You’ve been punished enough.”
She shivers. “I don’t know …”
“I do,” I reiterate. “You deserve to be home with your family. Remember your boyfriend?”
Her eyes light up. “My boyfriend?”
“Yeah, he’s waiting for you,” I say. “He wants you back home.”
“But he—”
“C’mon,” I say, and I grab her hand again and pull her up from the bed.
“Wait,” she says as I drag her to the door. “What about my things?”
“Leave them. None of it is yours. It’s theirs. Now, c’mon.” I drag her through the door before she can say anything else to delay us.
I check the clock hanging from the wall. The guard’s almost on his way back. There’s not much time left. Certainly not enough to open the rest of the doors and free the other girls. I spent too much time talking Anna into it. Damn.
I sigh to myself and close my eyes for a second to refocus. No time to dwell on my decisions. This is what I chose, so now I have to see it through.
“Follow me,” I say, looking at her over my shoulder. “And stay close.”
We walk toward the staircases, but I make sure not to take the main ones. We wait until the guard has his back turned to it before swiftly passing it. There is an elevator in a room just beyond the hallway to the right. A tiny one that ends up in a storage room next to the kitchen, which they use to get carts with food up and down.
I know because when I was allowed to roam the House a little, I made sure to check for alternate exits. Eli really should have known that letting me drift around freely would come back to bite him in the ass.
I may not be strong, and I may be a mousy type of girl, but I am resourceful. And there is nothing I won’t do to get my way.
So I string Anna along for the ride and press the buttons to go down. Sweat drips down my back as we wait for the elevator to arrive on the ground floor. Anna squeezes my hand tight, and we look at each other. I fish my shard of glass from my pocket and hold it up.