Chapter Ten
Romy
I have to play their game.
Rather than letting my captors know I’m awake and plotting, I keep my eyes closed, pretending to still be knocked out.
There’s so much I don’t know. For one, I have no clue what they keep drugging me with. Whatever it is, it’s giving them an unfair advantage. Anytime I’m too “awake” to their false cover story about me, they punish me by messing with my head a bit before sending me back to dreamland.
Fighting them isn’t working.
Something tells me they could keep this up forever.
It won’t last forever, though. Eventually, Dad and Bastian will see through my social media posts and whatever they’re texting back to them with my phone. Bastian likes to hear my voice every now and again. He’s a good brother and he’ll sniff out this fake version of me they’ve created.
Once they realize it’s not me, my family will exhaust every resource—and the Langston family has a lot of them—until they bring me home. Dad is meticulous and thorough. It’s only a matter of time.
How much time is the question.
This could go on for weeks or months.
But when I don’t show up for Christmas break, they’ll know something’s up.
Pain in my stomach from a gnawing hunger has me giving up my fake sleep. Slowly, I open my eyes, unsure if I’m ready for the next terrifying angle they’ll come at me with.
Muted gray walls come into view. I’m in one of the ever-changing guest rooms they first stuck me in after the floor cage. It’s much better than being in the fake dorm room. A shudder ripples through me. At least in this room, I can pretend I’m staying at a nice hotel.
You can do this, Romy.
Just keep it together.
It’s easier said than done. I’ve been off my regular meds for an incalculable amount of time and have been forcefully given mystery drugs. Between the mind games, withdrawal from my meds, and confusion of the new ones, it’s really hard to keep all the fragmented parts of my mind held together.
Despite really wanting a shower, I make my way over to the door. When I turn the knob, it opens. Slowly, I slip through the door and peer into the hallway.
I’m in the room at the end.
I recall how if I keep walking toward the other end, I’ll pass the cigar room. When I turn, it’ll take me to a lobby with elevators. But the elevators weren’t accessible unless you had codes.
There has to be a stairwell somewhere.
Rather than going straight, I turn right to go down another long hallway. I’m sure I’m being watched by cameras. That’s enough to give me the chills, but I ignore it for now. If they want to stop me, they’ll stop me. Instead of running like a lunatic and screaming, I creep quietly, light on my shoe-less feet.
None of the room doors are open and the only smell down this hallway is a musty one.
Where is this hotel or mansion or whatever it is?
Am I still in California?
Have I been shipped off to Romania or Italy or some other foreign country far away from the US?
If only I could get access to some information. That would help me calm down and make a better plan.
I realize I’ve picked up my steps and am shuffling along at a quick pace. I force myself to breathe steadily.
Don’t rush.
Be careful.
Pay attention to every detail.
There are no pictures on the walls. Just doors and sconces. Sconces and doors.
When I reach the end, I can turn left to go down another long hallway. As I begin to paint a picture of this hotel in my mind based on what I know, I can tell it’s rectangular in shape and this entire floor seems to be guest rooms.
If I get to another floor, would I encounter guests of the hotel or is it completely empty—just me and those Crowne monsters?
I turn to look back the way I came. No one is coming after me. Dull, yellow light from my room is cast into the hall from my door that’s been left open.
After taking another few steps forward, I decide to try a door. Locked. Same with the next several. They obviously weren’t stupid enough to leave me a way out.
Then I see it.
Several doors down, on the wall, is a handle. I slink over to it and read the silver placard affixed to the recessed white-painted wood square.
Trash Chute.
My heart rate picks up as I consider what this means. If I can crawl into the small space, it’ll dump me into a trash bin somewhere, most likely on the ground floor.
I think I just found my way out.
Unfortunately, I have no idea how deep it goes and how steep the drop is.
The thought of tumbling down a dark chute and landing on concrete several floors down is terrifying.
Dying is a better option than being trapped here.
Without further thought, I grab the handle and pull open the door. I’m able to get my head and shoulders in enough to peek down. It’s a metal chute that’s shockingly clean that descends into darkness beyond the reach of my extended arm.
I’m certainly not going down headfirst.
“Hey!”
A deep voice booms from down the hallway, startling me enough that I bang my head on the metal. I whip my head out of the chute to figure out who’s speaking to me.
Theo.
He’s all the way at the other end but has now started running at full speed toward me. They didn’t expect me to find an escape route, which is exactly why I need to escape. Now!
I hike my leg up and slide it into the hole, then I brace the sides so I can get my other leg inside. It’s narrow around my hips, but I’m able to shimmy deeper into it.
“Romy, stop!”
Closer. Closer. Closer.
As his features come into view, I know it’ll only be a matter of seconds before he can grab me. I push farther into the hole. My feet dangle beneath me, not touching anything below.
Please don’t let this drop kill me.
I want to let go, but I’m shaking with fear—fear of the unknown.
My hesitation is too long because in a split second, Theo grabs hold of my arm with a death grip.
“Let go!” I screech, wriggling in an effort to get loose.
He’s too broad in the shoulders to get both arms in. It won’t take long, though, for him to pull me out of here since he’s stronger than me. No longer more terrified of what’s below me than above me, I turn my head and seek out his flesh with my teeth.
I bite so hard I taste the metallic tang of blood.
His pained scream makes me feel giddy inside.
It also makes him let go.
My stomach flips as I rush down the chute. I try to stop myself with my elbows, but that only rubs the skin off, making them burn. Twisting, I try to make myself larger by leaning my upper body weight toward one side and pushing with my thigh on the other side. I screech to a bruising halt.
It’s stuffy and hot in this chute and impossibly dark. The light above me is extinguished when Theo slams the chute door closed with a jarring echo.
I have to beat him to the bottom.
Slowly, I loosen up my hold and then I’m in freefall again. A scream is lodged in my throat and my stomach does so many somersaults I think I’ll puke. I’m unable to stop myself again as my descent has picked up speed.
It was probably pretty stupid to launch myself down this metal death hole but too late to turn back now. All I can do is pray that the garbage bin is filled with enough trash to keep me from spattering into a million pieces.
A peculiar scent fills my nostrils. It’s not a sweet, decaying smell like one would assume trash would smell like.
It’s chemical.
The smell gets stronger and stronger.
And then the walls around me disappear.
Splash!
I’m rocketed into a warm body of water and slice through it with incredible speed until my feet hit bottom. Pain shoots up my legs as my butt hits the hard surface next. The water, finally, stops the rest of me from slamming into the hard concrete.
Before I can make sense of what just happened, my survival instincts kick in. My eyes are open, but all I see is inky blackness. I scramble, despite the pain seizing my entire body, and try not to breathe. Fire burns in my lungs since I didn’t exactly get a chance to grab a huge breath before I was submerged.
Don’t panic.
Swim the way you came.
I start thrashing, hoping to break the surface soon. I’m disoriented and terrified. The chemical smell must’ve been chlorine. At least I’m not in some other body of water where I’d be contending with creatures on top of nearly drowning and being completely blind in the darkness.
Sparkles of light flitter in my vision. It’s not real light, though. I’m unable to hold my breath any longer and my body takes over, desperately trying to suck in air.
I suck in chlorinated water instead.
The next few seconds are panicked. My fingers push out of the water, cool air tickling over them, but it’s not quick enough.
I lose consciousness.
My entire body convulses as I vomit the water out of my lungs. I’m confused, but I quickly realize I’m no longer in the water. I determine I’m lying on my side on the concrete floor, purging my lungs. It’s also no longer dark.
The pool is now lit up with red lights, giving the water a bloody, creepy look to it.
I’m too busy trying not to die, so I don’t give in to the horrific sight of it.
I was just in that water. Drowning. In the dark.
A full-bodied shudder seizes my body, and my teeth begin to chatter. I heave sporadically until I’ve gotten all the chlorinated water out of my system.
I’m weak and boneless.
So much for my idea of escaping.
I went from one hell and dove right into another.
A sad, defeated sob rattles out of me. It’s chilly in this room I’m in—so chilly the warm water produces steam. I’d almost prefer to be back in that haunting water about now.
Footsteps behind me prevent that, though.
“You had so much hope,” Orion says, a gleefulness in his tone. “You almost thought you’d escaped.”
He chuckles and if I weren’t so weak, I’d curse at him.
Another voice joins. I flinch, worrying it’ll be Theo to get his vengeance.
“I’ll take her back up,” Gareth rumbles, voice sounding tight and agitated. “Caius wanted to see you anyway. I can handle this.”
This being me.
I can feel the malevolent presence of Orion hovering near me, enjoying every pitiful second of my weakness. I’m surprised he doesn’t kick me back into the water just to torture me a little more.
He pokes me with his foot, and I brace.
His dark laughter sends another ripple of shivers down my spine. Thankfully, he turns on his heel and strides off. Once a door closes, another set of footsteps approaches me.
“You really fell for it, Ro. I thought you were smarter than that.” Gareth sighs as though he’s disappointed in my choice of escape. His eyes travel to the pool. A dark look crosses over his face and he winces as if in pain. “Come on. Let’s get you back to bed.”
I want to fight him, but the bed is exactly where I want to be.
A pained whimper escapes me as he jostles my body and then scoops me in his muscular arms. Because he’s warm, I turn toward him, seeking out a small bit of comfort.
Gareth holds me tighter to him. “All you have to do is remember who you are, Ro. You’re one of us. As soon as you chase away all those crazy thoughts, you’ll see.”
His tone is gentle and kind. It makes my heart hurt.
What if he’s right?
What if it’s me who’s imagining all this captivity stuff?
It still doesn’t make sense, though.
If I chose anyone, it’d be Gareth, not Caius. There’s no way in hell we’re a couple. I don’t believe it. I can’t.
“I’m…not…” I croak out, shuddering. “One…of you.”
So much for playing along.
Back to prison I go.