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Glancing behind me, I make sure no one is looking before I slip behind the door.
“Alana, where the fuck are you going?” Reid growls in my ear. “You’re meant to stay together.”
My heart pounds as my excuse for splitting up dances on the tip of my tongue.
But I can’t speak. Mostly because it’s so dark in here that I’ve no idea who is here, but also, my heart is racing so hard that it takes everything I have to keep moving forward.
I can barely see my hand in front of my face as I slowly move forward.
The music still pounds around me, ensuring I can’t hear anything else.
There could be people right in front of me and I’d have no idea.
Eventually, my eyes adjust and I find a huge dark curtain at the other end of the hallway.
When I’m about halfway there, the music begins to change. The beat is lower, slower, more sensual, and it makes the dread knotting up my stomach so much worse.
“Alana, you need to get out of there,” Reid demands in my ear.
He’s right. I know he is.
But it’s too late.
Something is at the end of the hallway. Something bad.
Something we need to see. And I’m not stopping until I know what it is.
A door slams closed somewhere close and my hand flies to my mouth to stop a scream from tearing free.
But not a second later, a scream rips through the air.
Only it’s not from my lips.
My hand trembles as I continue moving forward.
There’s another scream and more door slamming.
And when I’m almost at the curtain, I hear the unmistakable groan of a man.
I guess that explains what’s happening on the other side then.
Footsteps race toward me, and I panic.
Pressing my back against the wall, I pray the darkness will cover me.
The heavy curtains are thrown open, shooting a bright beam of light down the hallway.
My breath catches as I try to slink back farther before a girl comes rushes out.
She’s a mess. Her hair is a bird’s nest on her head. She’s got makeup smeared everywhere and tears cascading down her cheeks. But none of that worries me more than the bruises and red marks that litter her gaunt body.
She races past me, too lost in her own misery to notice me.
I watch her go, my heart ripping in two for her and all the other girls who are forced to be here.
As much as I want to run after her, I know I can’t. Sucking in a deep breath, I continue forward.
I’ve made it this far. I’m not giving up now.
