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He looked at Bri with an expression I couldn’t read. “You know the story, Bri.” He then turned to me. “Drake Gorman. I’m in health care. Also single.”
“Tell her the big news,” Bri said, a mischievous gleam in her eye.
Drake rolled his eyes. “I’m the first.”
Frowning, I asked, “The first what?”
“The first to be here,” Jeffery said. “He’s the original housemate.”
The thought of waking up here all alone with no one to help me understand what was happening sounded even more terrifying than what I’d gone through. How had he managed it? What a nightmare.
“Seriously?” I asked.
Drake nodded and poured himself a glass of wine. “Yup.”
“Back to the new girl,” Elise said. “We already know about each other. You’re the shiny new toy. What do you do?”
“Um, I’m a waitress. There’s a little diner downtown I work at,” I said.
“Any hot guys in your life?” Bri asked. After a beat, she shrugged and added, “Or ladies?”
Heat rose in my cheeks. I wasn’t used to being the center of attention. Sitting there with everyone looking at me while they ate was almost unbearable. It was truly the last thing I wanted. Getting stabbed in the leg was looking favorable.
With a shake of my head, I said, “Nope. I broke up with a guy about a week before I got here.”
“Wow,” Jeffery said. “Such stimulating conversation.”
Since the last stimulating event at a meal had been someone bleeding, I could handle dull. If boring meant no pain, I was on board. Pretty sure Liam at least would agree with me.
“No need to be a dick,” Drake said.
Jeffery didn’t look perturbed. He finished his bite and lifted his glass of wine. “Sorry, big guy. Didn’t mean to offend you or our new delicate little flower.”
That little interaction killed the mood, and everyone went back to mechanically eating their food. Continuing to keep my head down, I ate my fill. It had been literal years since I’d been able to eat as much as I wanted. This place was full of contradictions. Comfort and terror in equal measures. It was impossible to understand what the point of it all was. Good food, luxurious accommodations, time to read and reflect? If I hadn’t known better, and if I hadn’t seen what was actually going on here, I’d be able to convince myself I was on some kind of retreat or vacation.
Bong. “You are dismissed. Please return to your rooms for bed,” Sam said.
Everyone dropped their utensils and stood, almost as a single choreographed movement. I did the same, only hesitating for a second. We left in single file and made our way down the corridors to our rooms. Once I was back inside my own quarters, the door closed and latched behind me.
With a full belly and silence, I was able to finally think back and truly relive what had happened over the day. One day. How could so much have happened in a few short hours?
My entire world had been turned upside down and everything I knew had been ripped away. Not that what I’d known had been that great.
Again, I paced the room. It was the only way to get the nervous energy out. After a whole day of this, I felt like a rat in a cage. My mind tumbled over itself as hundreds of questions and scenarios played out in my head. Would I be tortured tomorrow? Attacked or violated in some way, or would Sam make me do something even worse to someone else?
The strange pleasure I’d experienced when I’d done… what I’d done to Branson still lingered. Like a shadow at the back of my mind. I wanted to feel ashamed or sorrowful. No matter what I did, though, it came back to the same thing. I enjoyed it. A tiny and quiet part of me hoped I’d get to see Branson again.
The lights automatically dimmed until the only illumination in the windowless room came from a small lamp by the bed. The familiar chime gonged overhead, but I was nowhere close to wanting to go to bed. There was too much going on in my head. Continuing to pace, I chewed at the inside of my lips and cheek, fidgeted with my fingers, and tried not to think about what might happen to me while I was asleep.
“Dahlia. It is time for bed,” Sam intoned. The volume of the hidden speakers wasn’t any quieter even though it was evening.
Sighing, I shook my head and kept pacing.
The cuff buzzed; a tickle of electric current danced along my wrist and arm. A warning.
“Lie down. Now.” The words were still spoken in an even monotone, but there was a commanding and somewhat sinister current to them now.
I stopped pacing and stared at the bed. How far could I push this? What was the limit? If I kept saying no, would one of my housemates burst into my room, urged on by Sam. Would they force me to go to bed? Knock me out? Kill me?
