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"I want to check something."
Ten feet from the fence, we found that it was in fact only barbed wire on top. I’d have thought for sure Sam would want to watch any possible escapees eviscerate themselves trying to climb over. There was something weird going on as well. I thought I could hear a hum or a buzz the closer we got to the barrier. Drake tossed the stick at the fence, when it struck a shower of sparks burst out from where it made contact, the hum grew louder for a half second and the stick hit the ground. The moment of chaos happened fast. It took a moment for me to realize what had happened.
"I was afraid of that," Drake said, his voice somber.
"It’s electrified?" I asked dumbly.
"Looks like it. I don’t think we’re getting out this way. From the way it looked this thing is highly powerful. It would roast us before we even got half way up."
My hopes crumbled under the information. I’d been sure we could climb over, run for our lives, and leave all this behind. Now all I could picture was our charred and blackened corpses hanging from the fence. "Damn. I never thought about that."
Drake hissed, and flinched, holding his wrist to his chest. For a moment he glanced at his device and then at me. "It says ‘move back’. He’s watching again."
"But how?" I asked. "Are there cameras in the forest? Like, hidden in the trees or something?"
Drake took my arm and guided me away from the fence. "Probably. There’s no way he’d leave the woods without some kind of monitoring. Hell, maybe there’s listening devices inside the watch too."
That thought sent an icy cold finger of fear into my stomach. The thought that Sam was able to listen to everything at any time was almost too much to bear.
"Does it say anything else?" I asked.
"No. Just that we need to basically get away from the fence."
"Okay then. Let’s go back. There’s something else I want to check on."
Even in the darkness I could see Drake’s brow furrowed in confusion. "What’s that?"
"The warehouse. The giant building the mansion is inside of."
"What the hell could there be in there?" Drake asked. "I mean, other than like a hundred thousand dollars in fake plants and trees, that is."
"No idea, but I want to look through it thoroughly."
"Dahlia, that makes no sense. We know what’s in there. The house, and the pretend outside. Nothing more."
Breath hissed out of my nose as I sighed in frustration. I didn’t give a shit if Sam was listening as we spoke. Too damn tired to worry about what he was or wasn’t watching.
"That’s what I mean Drake," I said. "If you were going to hide something, what’s the best place to hide it?"
He blinked a few times then shrugged, letting his arms flop at his sides. "You got me. Where?"
"Right in plain sight. I’m not saying it’s for sure, but I want to be positive there’s nothing there. Are you going to help me or not."
He grabbed my arm and spun me around, he didn’t dig his fingers in or yank me hard. It was a surprisingly gentle gesture. My eyes were on his, and I could see the fire there.
"All I want is to help you Dahlia. Believe that. If you want to look I’ll look. Okay?"
I couldn’t help but smile at that. "Okay. Come on."
Our shoulders rubbed as we walked side by side. Soon the warehouse loomed before us, monstrous and imposing. My sweatshirt was right where I’d left it. Scooping it up and putting it on, I stepped inside. The interior of the warehouse looked more and more ridiculous each time I walked through it. Shame weighed heavily on me when I remembered how lifelike and real everything had looked in my few quick glimpses outside. But something else tickled at my mind as we stepped deeper into the building. I understood why the fake trees and grass were outside the front door, but why everywhere else? Only the front area would be visible through the door, unless Sam had always wanted us to escape. That idea sounded ridiculous even in my own head.
There was also Kaden. He’d come from outside. He’d seen the fake plants. But then again, he’d been highly stressed and jumpy. It was possible he hadn’t really taken notice as he came stumbling into the building. He’d also been killed before he could get comfortable enough to open up to us about what was outside.
No, the only reason there would be all this decoration everywhere was to hide something when the people in the house got out. Drake’s idea that he was putting us out here to make it easier to manage the inside of the house had merit, but it didn’t ring true in my mind. If we were never ever supposed to come outside, then why the fence? What was the point of the chapel? No. Sam hadn’t wanted us to force our way out, but the plan had always been to release us into the forest. Why it was happening now and not earlier was a complete mystery. Maybe he was waiting until he had the right combination of people?
"What exactly are we looking for?" Drake asked.
"Something out of place. Something that shouldn't be there."
