And then I spotted a little girl with long brown hair, two doors along. She was lying on a cot along with another girl who looked in her late teens.

I gestured toward the door and, holding River by the waist, lifted her up so she could see through the window.

“Lalia!” she gasped. She slammed her fists against the window.

The little girl stirred on the mattress, then looked toward the window. Her round young face looked dumbstruck, as though she was in a dream. Then she leapt up and rushed toward us. She was far too short to reach River’s level. But her small hands banged against the door and she cried out her sister’s name. “River! Help! I want to go home!”

The older girl in the cell with her woke up and moved toward Lalia. She wrapped her arms around Lalia’s midriff and picked her up so that she could be level with her sister.

River looked at me desperately. “Is there really no way we can take her with us now?”

“No. Lucretia is waiting for us upstairs. There’s no way we could smuggle anyone out unnoticed.”

River looked desolate, but she didn’t argue with me.

It was uncomfortable watching the two converse through the glass. River kept comforting Lalia telling her that we’d find a way to get her out.

I didn’t know what River was thinking in making such a promise to her.

River and I might be able to figure out a way to escape this place, but smuggling Hassan and Lalia out with us posed another set of obstacles entirely.

Chapter 15: River

No words could describe how painful it was seeing my sister on the other side of the glass. I didn’t know who that other girl was, but I was grateful that at least Lalia hadn’t been imprisoned alone. Lalia didn’t appear to be sick or wounded, but her face betrayed trauma that I feared had scarred her for life.

When Joseph touched my shoulder and said that our time was up, it killed me to step back.

Leaving Lalia in that cell was the hardest thing I’d ever done in my life.

As Joseph and I exited the chamber her cell was in, my legs felt weak. And as we reached the bottom of the staircase that would lead up to the exit of the prison, I broke down. I sank to the floor, pulling my legs up to my chest and burying my head against my knees.

I was thankful that Joseph gave me space even though we were late leaving the prison. He just waited for me until I composed myself. When I looked up, he reached down a hand to me and helped me up. I wiped my eyes, doing my best to avoid looking like I’d just been crying, and we continued up the stairs.

Lucretia was waiting for us, still working on her nails in one corner of the room. She looked up as we entered. Then she got to her feet and dusted herself off.

“You’re almost ten minutes late,” she said, looking at us pointedly.

“Apologies,” Joseph replied. “We got lost. It’s a really huge place down there. How many cells are there altogether?”

She shrugged. “No idea… So how did it go?”

“It went well,” Joseph said. “River’s blood is a real help to me.”

“Good,” she muttered, locking the entrance to the prison again and sliding the key into her pocket.

We left the room and stepped out into the brightly lit atrium.

We parted ways with Lucretia and headed back toward Joseph’s apartment. I was unable to speak a word. My mind kept replaying those few moments I’d spent with my sister, how forlorn she’d looked, and how utterly helpless I’d felt to do anything to help her.

As we entered Joseph’s apartment, he broke the silence.

“It’s late. I suggest you get some sleep.”

I almost scoffed. Sleep. That was the last thing on my mind. Even though my body was exhausted, I doubted I would even be able to get a wink of sleep tonight.

Still, since Joseph was turning in, I did too. He showed me to one of the spare bedrooms in his apartment, then left me alone and returned to his own room.

I looked around the spacious bedroom and flopped down on the bed. It was one of the most comfortable beds I’d ever lain on. Here in The Oasis, everything exuded luxury. The floors, the bed linen, the lighting… and yet I couldn’t enjoy any of it.

I was beginning to feel uncomfortably cold again, my bones starting to ache. I slid beneath the blanket and curled up into a fetal position, closing my eyes tight and praying for my sister.

I tossed and turned, trying to find some relief in sleep, but I might as well have prayed for a miracle.

I was still trying to fall asleep well into the early hours of the morning.

It must’ve been about 2am when a strange noise broke through my thoughts. I sat up in bed, holding my breath as I strained to listen.

It sounded like a machine giving off an odd grinding noise. And it was coming from one of the levels below. I wondered what on earth it was. I got out of bed and padded over to the door. Opening it, I walked down the corridor and approached the front door, then placed my ear against the wood.

Yes. It sounded like someone was grinding something. And it was loud, at least to my sensitive ears.

Since I wasn’t able to sleep anyway, I was curious to go and see what it was, but I didn’t dare leave the apartment by myself. I didn’t want to wake Joseph either, so I didn’t see any other choice but to head back to my bedroom.

I jumped as Joseph’s bedroom door creaked open. His dark hair was tousled, and his nightshirt hung loosely, revealing his muscular torso.

“You couldn’t sleep either?” I whispered.

He shook his head. “I rarely sleep in this place… Do you hear that?” he asked.