Page 22 of Artifice

The breathing stopped.

Then came a sound that chilled her more than the darkness or the restraints—soft laughter, followed by retreating footsteps.

This was no accident.

Someone hadwantedto trap her inside here.

A shiver raced through her.

Alone in the blackness, Olive realized with sickening clarity why Colin might have been desperate enough to attempt a dangerous escape from Lighthouse Harbor—and why someone might have been equally desperate to stop him.

She was surrounded by the evidence of what happened to students who didn’t conform.

How was this even legal?

How was she going to get out of here?

She wasn’t sure.

This place was designed to keep people in.

Her only hope was that someone would hear her and realize she wasn’t a student trying to escape punishment.

That they’d have mercy on her and let her out.

Or maybe Margaret would come looking for her after the class time ended.

With that thought, Olive began pounding on the door again.

CHAPTER 12

How long had Olive been pounding on the door and shouting for help?

It felt like hours when in reality, she’d guess, it had maybe been five or ten minutes.

She’d never thought of herself as being scared of dark, confined spaces. But right now, she couldn’t breathe.

She paused from pounding the door and leaned against it instead, her forehead resting on the thick wood.

In and out, Olive. In and out.

After going through the breathing routine for several minutes, her nerves settled—but only slightly.

You’ll eventually be found. You won’t die in here.

If nothing else, Tevin would come looking for her.

But no one here should want Olive dead. As far as she knew, no one knew who she really was or why she was here. Most likely, she’d been locked in here as a prank, probably by one of the school’s students.

If that was the case, wouldn’t Director Ingraham come searching for Olive? It seemed as if the woman would.

Olive pressed her ear against the door, trying to listen to what was going on in the hallway.

When she’d come in here, the class only had fifteen minutes until it was done. She hadn’t heard the scurry of students outside yet.

That meant it probably hadn’t even been ten minutes. That also meant that eventually Olive should hear students going from class to class.

Even if any of them heard her, would they actually open the door? Certainly they’d been instructed to leave this room alone.