Unfortunately, that’s not how things had played out. And I was now locked in a dungeon, and my sexual partner was taunting us.
“I didn’t know Taylor was a part of it.” Zoe was wrapping up. “Maybe it was even her in the mask. I figured it was Yana. Or Chitra. They’re all pretty small.”
My stomach growled loudly. After all, I hadn’t had dinner.
“How’d you guys get down here?” I asked, trying to distract myself.
“Roza said she was going to take the snowmobile and check if the roads had been cleared,” Keira said. “And Taylor said we should look for you, since you hadn’t come back. She found the passage in the wardrobe. Well, pretended to.”
I pictured Taylor’s surprised, excited face: Guys, look!
“What are we going to do?” Wren rasped and coughed.
“We’ll figure it out.” I had no idea where the soothing words came from. My stomach growled again.
“They’ve been feeding you?” I asked.
Zoe nodded. “The masked person came a few times to give me food and water.”
“You haven’t seen Roza?” Keira asked.
“Nope.”
“We have to fight them.” Speaking in a low voice, Keira locked eyes with Wren. “Someone will come through that door eventually. And when they do, we have to take them down.”
“How?” Wren clasped her hands together, looking miserable.
“I’m trying to remember what I learned in that self-defense workshop.” Keira considered. “It was a long time ago.”
“Go for the crotch.” Zoe erupted in an incongruous giggle. “Usually the attacker is a guy, though.”
“Eyes,” I said. Wren and I had taken a class through work, years before. “And nose? Can’t you push up with your palm and smash their nose?”
“Yes. Good.” Keira touched Wren’s shoulder. “It’s going to be our only chance.”
“Okay.” Wren fished a disintegrating tissue from her pocket and blew her nose.
Despite Keira’s confident words, a deep fear shone from the depths of her pupils. It chilled me. Keira had always been the calm one, even while picking the lock of the office or searching my room for cameras.
Now she looked terrified.
“We’re going to get through this.” I said the words slowly, like an incantation.
But the phrase sounded hollow, even to me.
* * *
When the door did open three hours later, it happened so quickly that we failed to register it until it was closed again.
We leapt to our feet, a second too late. Someone had opened the door and launched water bottles into the space. They now rolled down the concrete floor, crackling.
Zoe muttered, clutching the bars.
Keira gathered them and set them against the wall. They gleamed, sweating with condensation from the cold. I swallowed, wincing at my raw, dry throat.
“When’s the last time you drank anything?” I asked Zoe.
“A long time ago.”
“We can’t drink these.” Keira uncapped one. “They’re all open. Roza or Taylor or whoever must’ve put something in them.”
“Roza’s trying to drug us?” My empty stomach clenched. “Again?”
“Of course.” Keira set the bottle down. “She needs to get Wren and me in there with you guys. I’ll bet there are more roofies in here.”
Wren moaned and slid back down to sit on the ground. Her cheeks were now a candy-apple pink, her eyes shiny with fever.
“How long can people survive without water?” I asked.
“Only a couple of days. Three days?” Keira cocked her head. “I think you’re supposed to drink half a gallon every day. Like eight full glasses. Right?”
Zoe eyed the bottles. “I might have to drink one of those pretty soon.”
“What if it’s something lethal?” Keira asked. “What if they’re trying to get rid of us? I mean, how do we expect this to end? We know too much. They’re not going to let us go.”
Wren started to cry quietly into her hands.
I stared. Wren had always been the brave one, the adventurous one. She’d talked our way into private parties teeming with models and celebrities. She’d snuck us into sold-out concerts through back doors and kitchens. She’d gone off on tattooed bikers and coked-up dealers and even drunk Jersey girls, throwing drinks in their faces when they took our barstools or stole the shots she ordered. And even the Jersey girls had stepped down, slinging insults, because they’d been able to sense what everyone else knew: you didn’t fuck with Wren.
Seeing her crumble like this was making my head spin.
But maybe part of that was the hunger: it was shifting from a dull ache into a sharp need. Even worse, the water bottles had made me realize how thirsty I was. My lips felt cracked, my tongue fuzzy. I imagined cool water filling my mouth with an erotic longing, like a sudden rainstorm sinking into a dusty desert.
“So now what?” I asked.
Zoe broke the ensuing contemplative silence: “I’ll do it.”
“Do what?” Keira asked, suspicious. She’d placed an arm around Wren’s shoulders. There had to be some kind of heat down here—after all, you couldn’t see your breath—but it felt bitterly cold. Frigid air seeped between the threads of my thin sweater. And Zoe just wore a flimsy dress.
“I’ll drink the water.” Zoe motioned for a bottle. “You guys can see what happens to me.”
“You really think that’s a good idea?” I asked. Just a half hour before, she’d been crying about how she was going to die down here, and now she wanted to drink a high-risk beverage?
“They’re not going to kill me with a water bottle.” She shrugged. “That’s not Roza’s style.”
“Either way, it’s not happening.” Keira shook her head.
“They turned off the heat.” Zoe rubbed her arms. “It’s getting colder. It’s all just going to get worse.”
I heard a sharp clacking sound.
“What is that?” I asked.
“It’s Wren.” Keira bent her head down. “Her teeth.”
“Sorry.” Wren grimaced. “I’m really cold. And hot.”
Keira felt Wren’s forehead. “You’re sweating.”
“Fever,” I said. “That’s not good.”
The speaker crackled and our faces swiveled.
“Good evening.” It was Taylor, speaking with her English schoolteacher accent. “This is your tour guide, Mrs. Lillyputter, letting you know that your immersive experience comes with its own set of guidelines. Rule number one: In order not to die of thirst, you must drink the beverages provided. All of you. Please rest assured that these are perfectly safe and only include a few drops of a special ingredient to ensure the most quality rest on your first night.”
Wren buried her head against Keira’s shoulder, moaning.
“Rule number two,” Taylor went on. “To ensure that our tenderest of guests remains alive, we highly recommend allowing us to provide her with medications, heaters, and blankets. In order for us to provide these, please see rule number one regarding drinking the provided beverages.”