Page 67 of Haunted

“This whole thing is so fucked up,” Sadie says quietly. “All of it. The way they hunt us like animals, the way our bodies respond even when our minds are screaming no, the way they make us complicit in our own...” She trails off, unable to finish.

“I have to find her,” I say, pushing off from the wall.

“Mira, no. You can’t save her. Notfrom this.”

“I know,” I whisper.

Sadie’s right, and that’s the worst part. We’re all powerless here because we walked into this willingly. We signed the contracts, accepted the invitations, and put on the ridiculous outfits Xavier provided. Every choice that led us to this moment was ours.

The NDA I signed didn’t just cover confidentiality—it waived my right to withdraw consent during the Hunt.

Cora signed the same document. She knew the risks.

“We all signed up for this,” I say, more to myself than to Sadie. “Every one of us walked through those doors knowing what could happen.”

Sadie nods slowly. “But knowing and understanding are two different things. I thought I was smart enough to handle whatever they threw at us. I thought I could outthink them, use my tech skills to find advantages.”

She gestures to her torn dress and the marks on her arms. “Turns out being hunted isn’t something you can hack your way out of.”

“They don’t just want our bodies,” I realize aloud. “They want our minds too and to make us complicit.”

“Exactly.” Sadie’s voice is bitter. “And the really sick part? Some of us will leave here thinking we wanted it all along. That’s how good they are at this.”

I picture Cora in that chamber with three men, confused about whether she’s enjoying herself or being violated. The line between consent and coercion blurs when you’re overwhelmed, when your physiological response betrays everything your mind believes in.

“Even if I could reach her, what would I do?” I askquietly. “Tell her she doesn’t really want what’s happening? That the way she feels is manufactured, or worse, that they are simply the body’s inherent response to stimuli even when unwanted?”

“Would you believe that if someone told you?”

I think about Xavier’s hands on me, the way I came apart for him in that pool. Would I believe someone who told me it wasn’t real, that I was responding to psychological manipulation?

“No,” I admit. “I wouldn’t.”

“Sadie...”

The voice drifts down the corridor like smoke. It’s barely above a whisper, but in the relative quiet of this section of the maze, it carries perfectly.

“Sadie, where are you hiding, beautiful?”

Sadie goes rigid beside me, her face draining of color. “Fuck,” she breathes, panic flashing in her eyes. “He found me.”

The voice continues, closer now, with a sing-song quality that makes my skin crawl. “I know you’re here somewhere. Come out, come out...”

“Who is that?” I whisper, but Sadie is already backing away from the direction of the voice.

“Landon,” she says through gritted teeth. “One of Xavier’s brothers. I thought I’d lost him when I—” She cuts herself off, shaking her head. “It doesn’t matter. He’s been hunting me specifically all night.”

"Sadie..." The voice is getting closer, and its calmness sounds unsettling. Whoever is speaking isn’t frustrated or angry like I’d expect from a hunter who lost hisprey, but amused. This is all part of a game he’s enjoying.

“I can smell your perfume. That vanilla scent you’re so fond of.”

Sadie’s hands shake as she presses herself against the wall. “He’s been watching me for weeks. Learning my habits, my preferences. This whole thing—it’s not random for any of us. They planned this. Meticulously.”

Cora is being targeted because of her father. And now Sadie is being systematically hunted by someone who’s clearly studied her.

“We need to move,” I whisper, grabbing her arm.

But Sadie shakes her head, her breathing becoming rapid. “He’s too close. And he knows these passages better than we do. I’ve been running from him for what feels like forever, and he keeps herding me exactly where he wants me to go.”