A door opened and slammed shut above me. Muffled voices floated through vents in the floor. I pushed myself up on my knees, the concrete biting at my bones, and pressed my ear to the hole where the doorknob used to be. Not knowing who was above me was terrifying. Was it Zane and Jackson again? Maybe Zane was coming to finish what he had started. My teeth chattered as I tried not to cry.#p#分页标题#e#
I knelt down and peered out the small hole where the doorknob used to be. Something crawled across my neck. My hand flew up, slapping my skin and squishing a spider. I hated spiders. In a panic, I flicked my hand away from me. A shiver went up my back and I felt like bugs were crawling all over my body. I ran my hands through my hair, expecting to find it full of insects.
“God, please help me,” I prayed. “I’m sorry I didn’t go to church yesterday. Or the week before that…and the week before that one too…and every Sunday that I was at school. Please, let me get out of here alive.”
Footfalls came from the stairs. I ducked down, away from the keyhole. My fingers tightened on the knob and my legs ached with anticipation as I played out the plan of attack in my mind.
“He asked for you, girl,” a female voice spoke. The lights flicked on. “You must’ve made an impression on him.” She had a thick Brooklyn accent, which was out of place in Iowa.
Whomever she was talking to laughed. “I’m telling you, Rochelle, after what I did for him tonight he will always be asking for me.”
“What did you do?” Rochelle asked. I silently rose up and peered out of the hole. Two females sat on one of the small cots. The girl who was called Rochelle had her back to me. She was wearing a backless dress, something so revealing I would never be allowed to leave the house in. She brought her legs up under her and I caught a glimpse of her four-inch, hot pink stilettos. “Come on, girl, tell me!” she urged and flicked her black hair behind her back. A dozen gold bangles jingled on her wrist.
“Well,” the other girl started and kicked off her platform shoes. “He made me … ” she trailed off, her voice faltering. Then she leaned forward and whispered something to Rochelle. When she leaned back, I saw her face and was shocked at how young she looked. She was pretty: strawberry blonde hair that fell in perfect ringlets around her flawless face and striking blue eyes. I guessed her only to be the same age as Arianna.
Rochelle laughed. “You better have charged more for that.”
The redhead smiled and nodded. I was suddenly aware of just how fast my heart was beating. I pressed a hand over my chest, scared they would hear the pounding. My breath came and left my lungs, but I felt like I was getting no oxygen. Part of me didn’t understand what they were talking about. That part of me didn’t want to understand what they were talking about.
“Nate likes me, right?” she meekly asked Rochelle.
“Of course he does,” Rochelle promised her. “I think Nate will be—” she abruptly cut off when the redhead grabbed her arm. “What the hell, Lily?”
Lily shook her head and held a finger to her lips. Her eyes were focused on the closet door.
“Shit,” Rochelle swore. “What the hell happened to the door?”
“Is there someone in there?” Lily asked, her tone teetering on fear and excitement. “Hey, anyone in there?”
I opened my mouth but nothing came out. I took a breath and tried again. “Help me,” I croaked.
Lily screamed and Rochelle grabbed her wrist. “No. Leave it alone. Zane will fill us in about her in the morning.”
Lily’s blue eyes widened and terror pulled down her cheeks. Then she closed her eyes and shook her head, snapping back into the smiling girl she was just seconds ago. “Okay. I’m, like, really tired anyway.”
“I’ll say,” Rochelle said with a laugh.
My body trembled. They were just going to leave me? No. No, they couldn’t. They wouldn’t. I stuck my fingers through the hole and banged on the door.#p#分页标题#e#
“Help me, please!” I cried. Panic rose. I couldn’t stand being in the dark a minute longer. I jiggled the door. “Let me out!”
“Ignore her,” Rochelle instructed Lily. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. What the hell was wrong with her? I was a human being. Trapped in a closet. And she wanted young Lily to ignore me? I pressed my face against the door, crying.
“But why is she in the closet?” Lily asked, shooting Rochelle a dubious look.
“Please!” I tried again. “You have to help me. You know it’s wrong!”