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Where has playing it safe ever gotten me? Then again, I’m only here because I took a chance in the first place. Not like I had a choice. This time, the choice is mine, and I’m going to make it. My hand closes around the knob, and I take a deep breath through my nose and release it through my parted lips. Here goes nothing.
Just like last night, there’s no alarm or anything when I open the door. I look back over my shoulder toward the phone, then extend one leg and step out into the hallway. Silence. Nobody is waiting for me out here. No guard. No bogeyman ready to jump out at me.
I decide to take another step, then another. Every step I take away from the room leaves me feeling more confident than before, and before I know it, I’m in the elevator. I feel like I just got away with murder or something, and my trembling hand somehow manages to punch in the code I committed to memory. 3-5-1-8. Then I push the button for the lobby. Maybe I can make it out of here, after all.
When the car starts moving, I want to jump, scream, and cheer. It worked. Even if I can’t make it out of this strange hotel, I can at least look around and get a feel for where I am and what goes on around here. I descend one floor. Then another. Suddenly, the elevator stops, and so does my heart. What the fuck?
When it finally moves again, I’m going the wrong way, back up, dread slams into me. Ninth floor, tenth is where I came from, but the elevator goes up one more. The doors begin to slide open even though I didn’t tell them, and I press myself against the back corner of the car, expecting to see Mason glaring at me.
But nobody is there. The dimly lit hallway is empty. I don’t even know why I stopped if nobody pressed the button in the hall.
I’m still wondering what to do when out of nowhere, a scream pierces the silence, loud and blood-curdling, coming from down the hall. The sort of scream that makes all the hair on my body stand on end while my stomach clenches in horror. It sounded… pained. Terrified.
I reach out and jam my finger against the button to close the doors. I don’t want to hear that again. And I don’t want to know why I heard it. Who it came from or why. I stab the button over and over, frantic. Come on, come on, close!
I shudder in relief when the doors start to slide shut, then press the button for the lobby once again. Forget looking around. I need to move, now. Maybe I can bolt out of this place before anybody catches me.
But instead of moving, the low hum from the motor cuts out, and I only have a split second to absorb the sudden silence before I’m plunged into darkness.
TEAGAN
Even after the dim elevator emergency light comes on, I can barely see my hand in front of me. It’s so quiet in here. I can hear my heart rapidly beating in my chest. My breathing becomes erratic as I drag my hands along the side of the wall, like I’m trying to search for an exit I know is not there.
I’m so fucked.
So fucking fucked!
Cursing myself for coming here in the first place, I try my best to calm down and get my breathing under control before I hyperventilate.
Inhale, exhale. Slow and steady.
A few moments later, the panic becomes slightly less crippling, and I take a seat on the floor, pressing my back against the elevator wall.
How the hell am I going to get out of here?
I barely have time to think about it when the light suddenly flickers back on. I squint my eyes against the harsh fluorescent light.
The elevator starts moving again, descending toward the lobby, only to stop short three levels. The door slides open, and I scramble to my feet, getting ready to fight whoever is on the other side.
“Ms. Bennett.” Mason’s deep voice catches me off guard. I’m not sure why I didn’t expect him here, but I didn’t. “I thought I had asked you to stay in your room.”
“Fuck you!” I spit out. “I’m not a prisoner. I didn’t do anything wrong. You need to tell me why I’m here and what the hell this place is. Why did I hear somebody scream?”
“I don’t know what you heard, but I’m sure it was a misunderstanding.”
“Cut the crap, Mason. I want answers. This is not a normal hotel, and I want to know what’s going on. And then I want to leave; you can’t just keep me here.”
“Let’s go to my place and talk.” Mason steps into the elevator, positioning himself in front of the pad, so I can’t see him type in the code.
