Page 144 of Sawyer

Is this it?

A spike of excitement and a dash of fear rush through me, and I sit up. My mind tells me to move, to use the toilet, and put my shoes on, except my heart pinches painfully enough that I have to rub the ache from my chest.

Taking slow, even breaths, I force myself to go through my actions. I get up, use the toilet because a girl never knows, and then I put my shoes on.

These are all actions that don’t require thought or emotions.

It requires me to fight for myself, and to do that, I need to prepare.

The clock blinks half past one, and then it blinks off, casting me in complete darkness.

My heart thumps painfully in my chest, threatening to send me sprawling to the floor in a faint, only my breath controls this moment. After several long minutes, the lock clicks over.

Darkness continues to swell around me, so I wait until my eyes adjust to the shadows, blinking several times until the larger objects in the room become visible and the open space becomes lighter.

I stand on shaky legs, and as though a rubber band snaps me toward reality, I rush to the door and open it.

No light.

I listen for other doors, and when I don’t hear any, I allow my hand to slide against the wall and count to Violet’s door.

Three, then five. I grab the handle and rip it open.

Air swishes past me, and I sink to the floor just in time to miss what I’m pretty sure is Violet’s fist.

“Vee,” I hiss at her. “It’s me.”

“Girl, I could have killed you.” She sinks to the floor, and I can just make out the whites of her eyes. “You need to go back to your room now.” There’s a sharp tremble in her voice, and her fear almost reaches out to me.

“What? Why?”

“You think they haven’t played this trick on us before?” she whispers. “This isn’t the first time they have unlocked all the doors, taunting us with freedom.”

My heart sinks. Holy shit, they played psychological games with these women. The implication will haunt me for life. What they did goes so much deeper than simply unlocking the door.

Thea is the perfect omega. That’s what the doctor said. His words were cold and cruel but satisfied. He played these women by giving himself that good guy front, letting them see him as a doctor, as a scientist, that they could trust.

By unlocking the doors, letting them escape even a few times, and then catching them, they were trained to believe that they can’t ever truly be free.

Unlocking the doors occasionally taught them to be the perfect mate, one who will stay where she is told.

“Fuck that misogynistic fuck.” There’s more venom in my voice than I intend as I grab Violet’s arm and stand up. “It’s Rumor and his pack.”

She’s silent for a long time before she wraps her arms around me, drawing me in for a hug. My own just flounder around her until I hug her back.

We don’t have time for this, but I need her hug, because I’ve never felt something so pure and raw given by a friend. Hell, I’ve been a loner most of my life. I never had a best friend.

“I know how hard that was for you to say,” she whispers into my hair, and damn her, she isn’t thanking me that someone is coming for us. She’s praising me because she knows that the men I came here with aren’t mine anymore, and I just acknowledged that with my words.

“Fuck you and your observations,” I croak out while holding back tears.

“No, girl.” She slides her hands to my biceps, where she squeezes. “I could never get into the taste of pussy.”

A barking laugh bursts out of me.

“Get back in your rooms!” A flashlight dances down the hall, and Violet drags me back into her room.

“You have a plan?” she asks, trusting that this is Rumor and the others breaking us all out.

---