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A rctic water splashes across my face.

Gasping, I shoot up with a start as cold liquid dribbles down my face and neck, drenching my nightgown. I’m disoriented. Chilled to the bone. I blink icy droplets out of my eyes as I glance up, and a blurry face slowly comes into focus.

An orange plastic bucket dangles from freckled fingers as a man towers over me.

I’m still gasping for breath, choking on water and words. “Wh-what…?”

Just like that, my senses click back on, one by one.

Briny well water coating my tongue. The scent of sweat and body odor. Chattering teeth and puckered skin. Alarms, sirens, footsteps. Men barking orders from the hallways.

The red-haired man.

Dolph.

My instincts kick in and I scramble to my feet, slipping on a puddle and abruptly dropping to my butt. Pain shoots all the way up my spine, my tailbone throbbing.

Dolph moves like lightning and grabs me by the front of my wet gown, yanking me back up. I struggle, my eyes pinging wide when I notice a pistol fisted in his right hand. “No, please, no?—”

He shoves me to the mattress.

I’m still fevering, weak, and frozen as I glance at the wall.

Isaac.

Alarms blare, my heart skipping with each screechy siren.

Did he escape? Is he out?

Will they kill me before he brings back help?

I crawl off my mattress, toward the open door, as a low chuckle rumbles from Dolph. His leg lashes out until a heavy boot connects with my side. More pain slithers through my body like a hot-iron brand, and I roll onto my back, his foot holding me down by the chest. Wriggling and writhing, I grasp at his ankle with both hands, trying to push him off me. I can’t breathe. My ribs burn from the pressure as I helplessly slide against the slick tile.

Another figure crashes through the doorway.

Two figures.

I twist my head, my eyes landing on The Timekeeper.

And Roger.

“Roger!” I shout, still squirming beneath Dolph’s dirty black boot. “Roger, please…”

Roger is shoved into the room, stumbling. Dolph lifts off me, snatching me by the hair and pulling me to my feet. Scalp burning, I try to flee, but his hold is too firm.

The Timekeeper tsks from the threshold. “Many things grate me, Everly,” he drawls, adjusting the collar of his pink-and-navy-checkered suit. “Morons talking on speaker phone in public places. Chronic tardiness. Crying babies. Incorrect usage of the word ‘seen.’” A slight pause. “But would you like to know what’s at the top of that list?”

I kick at Dolph’s shins, to no avail.

Sneering, The Timekeeper glances at me. “ Inconveniences .”

“Please, you don’t have to?—”

“Enough!” His voice echoes loud enough to make me flinch. “I highly suggest you keep that mouth shut before I slice you open from chin to cunt.”

My blood runs colder than the water at my feet as he plucks a pocketknife from his front pocket and gives it a flick. The blade gleams under the fluorescent lights.

I stop squirming, my throat burning as I swallow down acid.

“That’s better.” His tone dips lower, more composed, the veins in his neck shrinking. “You think you’re intelligent, don’t you? Beauty and brains.”

I grit my teeth. “You’re a psychopath.”

“Yes, well, there’s a name for everything these days.” An easy smile tilts his lips as he grazes his thumb and finger along his chin. “Would you believe there’s something called a thimblerigger? One who shuttles a pea among three thimbles, then bets on which one the pea was under.” He chuckles with feigned amusement. “Truly asinine.”

“You won’t get away with this.”

“That hardly matters if you don’t manage to get away yourself. And you won’t.” Two mismatched eyes glint with menace. “I own you, Everly—just like I own your new friend, who’s being captured as we speak.” He flicks the pocketknife again. Once, twice. “My, my…how I cannot wait to hear the sounds he makes when I gut him, like a fisherman filleting his catch.”

My eyes burn with razor-like tears.

Isaac…

I whip my head back and forth. “He’s going to kill you. Painfully ,” I say, hissing the words through my teeth. “I promise you that.”

The Timekeeper blinks at me and returns the knife to his pocket. Hesitating for effect, he then pulls out a familiar thin wire.

Crooked and used.

My breathing shallows.

“You think I don’t know what you did?” Taking a step forward, he turns his attention to Roger and holds up the wire, dangling it back and forth. “What you both did.”

Eyes panning between the two men, I claw at Dolph’s meaty forearm, leaving angry nail marks behind. His hold only tightens. I can’t break free.

“I’m a man of many gifts, but leniency is not one of them.” He sighs, halting a foot away from Roger. “I have little tolerance for incompetent staff.”

Roger stiffens, having been silently watching the scene unfold. “I didn’t?—”

Shiny metal is pulled from The Timekeeper’s waistband.

A shot rings out.

I don’t have time to process anything before Roger’s head explodes.

Blood erupts like a geyser, brains flying every which way.

It’s a blur, a smog of horror.

I scream.

The sound is a faraway howl, diminished by the ringing in my ears. Gunpowder chokes me. Brain matter lands on my skin and dress. I sag to the floor, held up by my hair as Roger’s body twitches and drops to the blood-smeared tile.

Dolph doesn’t even blink.

His red-smattered face remains expressionless as he stares at the mutilated body at our feet.

I’m numb.

Sound drowns out.

Wailing, alarms, sobs—all a pitchy hum of terror. Background noise.

“Look what you made me do, Everly.” The Timekeeper bristles, shaking his head. “Now my favorite suit is ruined.” His jaw tics with distaste as he swipes chunks of brain matter off his jacket. Then he pivots toward me, pointing the weapon at my forehead. “ Inconvenient .”

I go still.

I’m staring down the barrel of a gun.

This is it.

I squeeze my eyes shut, returning to the foyer of my home. Jasper, lying in a pool of blood with a bullet in his back.

My husband, dead.

My life, over.

Memories unfurl, sweeping through my mind in vivid Technicolor. Dinner dates, wine mixers, inside jokes, future-planning. Dancing on street corners with my best friend. Falling asleep in my mother’s arms as she strokes my hair and sings my favorite song.

So many moments. So many dreams.

But memories are fleeting, and now I dream in black and white, my colors running dry. Everything is gray…everything except for him.

Isaac.

He’s going to make it.

It’s too late for me, but he’ll get out of here. He’s going to be okay.

I open my eyes and stare at the smoking barrel, a sense of peace washing over me. Finality. This was always in the cards for me. I know that.

But there’s hope for Isaac. He’s already on the other side of these walls, bringing back help. Not for me, but for the other trapped souls who deserve a second chance at life.

My dying wish is that Isaac will burn this murderous hell house to the motherfucking ground, and The Timekeeper will become nothing but ashes in the wind. A stain.

Justice will be served.

Justice for Isaac. For Joy. For Mitchell, Kara, Mary, and all the others.

For Sara.

I inhale sharply and watch as he presses a finger to the trigger, and then…

Nothing.

The Timekeeper winks at me with his crystalline eye, returning the pistol to his waistband. “As you can see, I can be a merciful man when warranted. Roger was a dutiful soldier for many years. Perhaps I gained a soft spot for him.” He nudges Roger’s corpse with the toe of his shoe, then looks back over at me. “But I assure you, lover boy won’t have it quite as easy. I reckon his painful screams will be a worthy soundtrack to your nightmares tonight.”

No.

Tears pour down my cheeks.

I choke on my cries, thrashing and twisting in Dolph’s grip as my bare feet streak through a pool of blood.

“Give her some antibiotics,” my captor orders. Straightening his tie, he spares Dolph a quick glance before aiming his attention at me, a grin curling his lips. “I’m not done with her yet.”