“Well, as nice as it is to meet you,” Caleb cut in, speaking to Everly, “I still don’t understand why Luca brought you to his room. They don’t let us have people in here—Luca, if you get caught for this . . .”
“I won’t,” Luca said quickly. He saw Everly looking between him and Caleb from where she still stood near the door.
“How come you get to be in here then?” she asked Caleb.
Luca answered for him. “The Warden recognizes the value each of us holds in this building, and so we are both allowed a certain amount of responsibility and, with that, freedom. As long as we don’t break curfew, or go into restricted areas, we have more or less free range of the place.”
“Plus,” Caleb added, “he looped the camera feed. Right now, if someone was sitting in the surveillance room, they wouldn’t see any of us in here. Just an empty bedroom.”
Everly narrowed her eyes at both of them. “Have you met him then? The Warden?”
“Not . . . exactly,” Luca said slowly. “The Warden speaks through the runners. The people in blue. Well, speaks might be a stretch—they aren’t really a chatty bunch. But they work for the Warden, as do the reds, like your dear old gramps. And the Warden’s always watching. Always.” Luca had the sense that, even when he was functioning as the eyes of the Eschatorologic, the Warden had eyes, too, that were able to peer into even the deepest and darkest corners of the building.
(A very correct and astute assumption, on Luca’s part.)
“Do you know who he is?” Everly pushed, leaning forward. “Or where he is?”
Luca shook his head, expression darkening. “The Warden’s the Warden. That’s all you need to know around here.”
She clearly wasn’t satisfied with that answer, and Luca could see her face twisting up with more questions. Instead of asking more about the Warden, though, she broached a new topic. “So, what is it that you two do here? Why are you in the Eschatorologic? In this room?”
Luca sat up, leaning in Everly’s direction. “The better question is, what are you doing here? You seem to be the only one of any of us who had a choice in the matter.”
“More or less,” she said. “But you didn’t answer my question. Are you—” She cut herself off, eyes widening and shifting down. Luca watched her uncertainly, but then Everly cleared her throat and began again. “Were you both . . . taken?”
“I wouldn’t say that exactly,” Luca said, exchanging a glance with Caleb. “More like we’ve always been here. We’ve never known anything else.”
“But do you want to leave?” Everly asked, looking between the two of them with a puzzled expression on her face. Luca got the sense she had never found herself as anyone’s prisoner—had never found herself without a choice.
Luca and Caleb exchanged an uneasy look. Neither was sure how much to tell her. How much she already knew.
“It’s not that easy,” Caleb said.
“You don’t want to go outside? Breathe fresh air, I don’t know, look at the sky?”
“That’s all fine and good,” Luca said, “but I’m afraid it’s not in the cards for us. We’re stuck here.” He indicated Caleb and himself, but really he meant all of them. The residents of the Eschatorologic.
Everly looked like she wanted to ask more. He didn’t blame her. It was a lot to take in. The air in the room seemed to have stiffened, so Luca reclined back against the wall from where he sat on the thin bed next to Caleb, changing tack.
“So, Caleb,” he said, looking at his friend. “Everly here needs our help. She’s found herself in a bit of a bind, and it seems she needs help getting out of the building unseen. What do you think?”
Caleb’s lips flattened into a straight line. Luca could tell he really didn’t like the idea. “I think you’ve already made up your mind,” Caleb said, sighing. “So, there’s no way I’m going to be able to convince you otherwise, is there?”
Luca smiled broadly, pretending the smile didn’t tremble ever so slightly, and spoke to Everly. “It’s settled then. You have won yourself two incredibly skilled, not to mention devastatingly handsome, accomplices. You’re welcome.”
“Whoa whoa whoa, I didn’t ask for any help,” Everly said, holding up her hands. “I can get out just fine, as long as I know the way.”
Luca shook his head, though he could see it frustrated her. “I’m sorry,” he said. “Trust me when I say security amps up at night, and if you’re trying to hide from something, the dark is the absolute worst time to be out in the open in this building. It’s when all the demons come out to play, with no one around to guard against them.”
“So, what are you saying then?”
“I’m saying that you’re going to have to stay here for a few hours. When I know the coast is clear, we’ll lead you safely to your freedom, and you can forget this ever happened. But first, you’re going to have to start trusting us.”
Luca saw her purse her lips together, but she nodded. “Fine,” she said. “What do I have to do?”
“Right now,” Luca said, “nothing. You stay here, and you stay quiet. You’re not supposed to be here, and I’m the one who’d get in trouble if you’re caught, so while I’m gone don’t do anything to draw undue attention to this room.”
“Wait,” she said sharply. Luca, who had already moved toward the door, paused with his hand on the doorframe. He saw her hesitate before saying, “You’re not going anywhere until you tell me what I saw up there.”
“Where?” he asked.
“There was a room. Upstairs. On the top floor. It was . . . it was covered in . . .” She looked down at herself helplessly. He looked at her, too. At the blood that coated her clothes and skin.
“Was it white?”
“What?”
“The room, was it white? Walls, floor, ceiling, all white?”
“It—yeah. A lot of it wasn’t so white,” she laughed bitterly, “but beneath all that, it was white. Why? What does that have to do with anything?”
“Look,” Luca said, coming back over to her. He hesitated, but then reached down and took one of her hands, trying not to grimace at the feel of dried blood on her skin. “I know you have questions. I know you’re scared. But you’re safe in here, and we’re going to get you out.”
Everly looked down at his hand covering hers. Still looking down, she said, “It’s some kind of prison, isn’t it? That’s what this place is. Locked doors, bloody rooms, guards.” Her eyes lifted to meet his. “What else could it be?”
Luca held her gaze. “It’s a prison,” he conceded. “But we’re trapped here by far worse than metal bars and security guards. And,” he said when he saw her open her mouth, “you really are better off not knowing.” He smiled bitterly. “You wouldn’t believe it, anyway.”
Everly didn’t say anything to that, but she dropped his hand, backing away a step.
