So much guilt from all that pressure. The desire to escape is so strong she’d do anything to get out, even let Tobias fuck her. And I don’t blame her. I’m on the verge of doing the same thing with Eli.
“I can’t believe I did all of those things,” she says.
“You made the right choice for you,” I reply.
“No, I didn’t,” she suddenly barks. “Don’t you see? I deserved this!”
“What?” I frown. “Stop telling yourself that.”
“We ALL deserve it!” she yells, gazing at me with her tearstained eyes. “Why can’t you see that?”
I don’t understand what’s gotten into her. “No, this is what they do to you. They trick you into believing their lies.”
Her eyes widen. “NO!”
In shock, I lean away, terrified to look at her when she’s so angry.
“Tobias cares about me. The only liar here is me,” Anna says in a single breath.
I lean over again, but the curtain is suddenly swathed over the hole, blocking my view.
“Anna?” I mutter. “Anna? Talk to me.”
“I can’t. He told me this is how it’s supposed to go,” she replies.
“Tell me why,” I respond.
“No. He forbade me from talking to anyone about this. My sin is my own to carry.”
I hear footsteps moving away from the hole, and then nothing.
“Anna?” I call out, but there’s no response.
I bang on the walls, but there’s no one banging on them back. No matter how many times I call out her name, she refuses to come and speak with me. And it hurts. So much that it makes tears well up in my eyes again.
He got to her. Just like that. He fucked her until she caved and gave them everything they wanted. Was it even true, what she told him?
I shiver as I get up from the floor, suddenly feeling cold to the bone.
I’ve lost my only sliver of humanity. The one girl I could finally talk to is shut off from reality. And all I have left is my own crazy thoughts whirling inside my head, convincing me I too am guilty of a crime deserving of all this punishment.
I’m tired of sitting around and waiting. No more.
If I can’t count on anyone, not Eli or Chris or even Anna … then I will count on myself.
I will be the one to set us both free.
Chapter 22
Eli
Tobias groans out loud when he pulls the metal from his leg. Blood seeps from the wound, which he quickly covers with bandages and tapes it up.
“Looks gnarly,” I say.
“It’ll heal,” he responds as he walks past me and grabs a glass from the cabinet. “Man … I’m thirsty.”
He turns on the tap and runs water into the glass.
“I can imagine after doing all that,” I retort as I sip my coffee at the bar.
He chugs it down in one go, sets the glass on the counter, and then stares at me. “It took quite a bit more effort because of your girl.”
I look away and sigh. “She needed to learn her lesson.”
Soren stomps into the room, eyes cold as though his mind is completely shut off. He opens the fridge to take out a carton of milk and slurps down the entire thing, then throws it into the trash from a distance and burps out loud.
“Can you not?” I say, pointing at my mug. “I’m trying to enjoy my coffee here.”
“That’s what happens when you interfere with our work,” Tobias replies, and he folds his arms. “You even tell off Soren nowadays.”
“You both make too much noise,” I retort.
“Do you have any idea how hard I’ve been working on cracking that one?”
“Really?” I raise a brow. “Because it seems like she only got here recently. If I wasn’t so busy myself, I’d say you had quite an easy time convincing her to tell the truth.”
Tobias smashes the glass down onto the sink. “Really? That’s your answer?” He rolls his eyes. “You let your girl roam around the House.”
“Yes. That’s my decision, not yours,” I say, clearing my throat. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some calls to make.”
When I walk to the door, Tobias blocks my way, and the air suddenly grows thick with animosity. “Something you wanna say to me?”
“If you hadn’t let her out of your sight, maybe she wouldn’t have snooped on us,” he says, folding his arms.
“She needed to see to know what would happen,” I say.
When I try to pass him, he blocks my way again.
“You make my job harder than it should be,” he says. “Why?”
“Your girl was