The Secret Girl (Adamson All-Boys Academy #1) - C.M. Stunich Page 0,110

tries the door … and we all hear the distinct sound of tumblers clicking. The heavy wood creaks open ominously.

“Jenica, what the hell?” Ranger murmurs, heading inside and down a set of stone stairs carved out of the bedrock. He takes out his cell phone to use as a flashlight.

“I don’t know that this is such a good idea,” Tobias starts, but Ranger’s too interested in finding out what might’ve happened to his sister to listen or care to anyone else right now.

“Old abbey steps,” Church says under his breath, exchanging a look with the twins. They both shrug and head down after their friend, Church and me trailing along behind them. I guess we’re all assuming that since there are only two, maybe three, attackers at most, that we’ll find safety in numbers.

“Guys, there are freaking tunnels down here,” Ranger calls back as we hit the bottom of the steps and move through another open door. The floor’s damp, and it smells like mold and mildew down here, but it’s pretty cool if you think about it, about monks traversing the city way back when. I shiver at the thought. You usually only see stuff this old and cool in other countries, but Adamson happens to be one of the oldest buildings in America. It’s pretty unique.

“We should probably leave and call the authorities,” Church muses, but Ranger’s on an obsessive quest to learn more about his sister. He’s barely listening as he starts off down the tunnel with the twins trailing behind him. To be fair, the ‘tunnel’ is huge, tall enough to fit a house inside of. “Do you want me to take you back upstairs?” he asks me, but I shake my head.

If we can find out who these dickheads are, we can clear Jenica’s name and create a safe space for me here at Adamson all at once. And then I can get to know the boys better, maybe learn how to bake a cake by myself, start a new life that doesn’t totally suck in Connecticut.

I’m so excited about this whole thing being over—I think we all are—that we’re not careful enough.

The door behind us swings closed, and Church curses, racing over to try to open it. He shoves on it with his shoulder and tries the handle, but it won’t budge. It’s this huge, old wooden thing that’s taller than he is.

“Ranger!” he calls out, voice echoing in the darkness. Now that the door’s closed, all the ambient light from above is gone. I get out of my phone and shine it on the lock as the others come jogging back to us, feet splashing on the wet floor.

“It’s okay; I have the key,” Ranger says, but when he tries it, it doesn’t fit. Not the gold key, or the silver one. “The hell?” He tries again with both keys, but nothing happens. He even puts his shoulder against it with Church’s help and tries to force it open, but it may as well be made of stone. The damn thing isn’t going anywhere.

That’s when it hits me.

We’re down here in the dark, in the wet, with only our phones to see by.

Time to call Dad again.

I dial up my father’s number, but I can’t get any service.

“Hey, are your guys’ phones working?” I ask, and Church takes his out to check.

“We forgot ours,” the twins say, lifting their hands up in a placating gesture.

“I’ve got mine, but there’s no service down here,” Ranger says, exhaling sharply. Must be all the stone blocking the signal or something.”

“Mm,” Church murmurs, turning his flashlight app on. “No service for me either.”

My heart clenches in my chest, and I feel suddenly sick.

This doesn’t bode well for us.

Not well at all.

We're trapped.

We're seriously fucking trapped in here.

“Spring break starts tomorrow,” I whisper, feeling this coldness penetrate my body. It's just fear, pure and simple, but I can't help it. I am scared. I'm terrified. We're trapped in some secret freaking tunnels beneath the academy, an academy that used to be an abbey. The monks had over two hundred miles of tunnels down here. I thought it was, like, filled in or something, but apparently it’s very much still a part of the landscape. How the hell are we supposed to find our way out? “That means the campus will be virtually empty. It's just my dad and creepy Nathan.”

I turn in a small circle, wishing Spencer were here. He'd be the most likely out of all us