When Tom had mentioned burgers, Sam had expected a visit to a large fast food chain. He was all the more surprised about the small restaurant and the burgers were really very good.

Tom, Alex and Franziska had wanted to go to a dance hall, but Penny had politely declined so that she could rest for her competition the next morning. She had wanted to encourage him to go with the other three, but he refused to be dissuaded, claiming that he had jet lag from the flight and was still recovering from it. Penny had looked at him critically, but acknowledged it with a smile. Jet lag with only an hour time difference was a stupid excuse, but he couldn't think of anything else on the fly.

"Sam Jones," a friendly smiling Pedro suddenly greeted him as they entered the hall of the hotel and they looked at each other confused. "I saw that the day after tomorrow we will be running against each other. The defending champion against the great movie hero," he added grinning and playfully punched him in the shoulder before he put his arm around him. "Our start wasn't necessarily the best, but let's have something to eat and a beer and get to know each other. We're colleagues after all."

"Actually, we've already eaten," replied Sam, who couldn't quite understand what was happening, while Penny also watched the whole situation with caution.

"Oh come on, just have a beer then. You can cuddle with your sweetie later." He pulled Sam with him without him being able to do anything about it and Penny decided to keep an eye on the matter for a while. "She's really cute. You've hit the jackpot with her," she heard Pedro say to Sam. To her surprise, Sam didn't correct him, actually agreed with him. Did he want to protect her from him in this way?

When Pedro and Sam headed for a table where a few other men and the two women from the bus were sitting, everything in Penny was reluctant to sit down. Pedro waved to her, but she shook her head and sat at the counter where she could keep a clear view of everything. She didn't know what she was waiting for, but the fact that Pedro was suddenly so open and friendly set off alarm bells in her head.

She ordered a water while the group in front of her turned to alcohol. Sam kept sipping his beer cautiously and kept giving her looks for help. He hardly ever had a chance to speak because Pedro was constantly talking about himself.

After half an hour, Penny decided to take a little time out and then release Sam. By the time she got back, she would come up with a plausible excuse that would satisfy Sam's adversary.

She went to the toilet, but as soon as she got there, one of Pedro's ladies raced past her and rushed into the only cubicle there.

"Sorry, I have to go urgently," she just called out as she locked the door and Penny rolled her eyes in annoyance and leaned against the sink. "You're Penny, right?" she then heard her talking to her.

Wow. What was suddenly wrong with them?

"Yes and you are...?"

"Oops, we somehow didn't get to meet each other, did we? My name is Madeleine, but you can call me Madi, everyone does."

"Nice to meet you," Penny replied, not quite as convinced as she hoped she sounded.

"Did you know we're starting together tomorrow?"

"No, that's a coincidence," replied Penny, genuinely astonished. It was really strange to meet her so sociably at the toilet this evening under the circumstances, while Pedro was having a chat with Sam... or had she just read too many crime novels ?

"Yeah, that's right, right?!" Penny heard the flush running and breathed a sigh of relief. Soon she would have it behind her and she would be gone."Oops!" That didn't sound good, Penny thought to herself and the next moment the door opened and Penny could see that the toilet was overflowing. "Maybe it was a bit much paper. I'll let the doorman know. I think he's at the front of the hallway. There's also a toilet. Come on, I'll show you." She washed her hands quickly and then led Penny into a hallway at the end of the entrance hall. "Come sit with us if you've finished. Your friend and Pedro seem to get along so well," she then crooned and Penny only nodded weakly before she fled into the toilet.

When she came back out 5 minutes later, she heard something that caught her attention and she listened for a moment to see if she heard that call again. A quiet cry for help actually sounded somewhere in the distance and she couldn't do anything to stop her urge to help kicking in and start looking for the person who caused it. She reached the deserted kitchen of the hotel and looked around searchingly as she heard the call again, this time a little louder and turned towards a dark corner. She got closer and spotted an open door and walked around it to look into the cold room behind it. It seemed deserted and just as she was about to turn around to continue looking elsewhere, she received a strong shove in the back. She staggered forward into the room and hadn't quite caught herself when she heard a loud bang and a snap.

She immediately turned to the door and banged on it from the inside. There was no handle on this side, not even a latch to ensure an emergency exit. She was trapped here.

"Hey, let me out of here!" Nobody answered and nothing happened. "Help!" she called out herself, but she suspected that no one would hear her through the thickly insulated door and the empty kitchen.

She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket to call Sam and was disappointed to find that she had no signal. She desperately held the cell phone up in the air, hoping to find at least a beam somewhere in this room, but nothing happened - just as the insulation kept the cold in, it also kept the radio signals out. She had to be able to make her presence felt somehow. Who could have guessed whether the person who had locked her up here was going to let her out again at some point?! She looked at the temperature gauge. Minus 20° Celsius.

She quickly wrote a message to Sam and sent it away, hoping that her cell phone would find a loophole in the cell phone system and at least send out this one message before she looked around.

On one of the shelves there were vegetables in a wooden box, which was better than nothing. So she emptied the box and went back to the door to bang on it. She hoped that the metal transmitted the vibrations and noise enough to be heard better than her shouts. Ten minutes later, she felt herself starting to shake. She had no jacket, nothing to combat the cold. All she could do was keep moving. So she started pacing back and forth, banging the box on the door every time she got back there. Despite her predicament, she couldn't stop thinking about Sam with concern and couldn't help but wonder if Madi's toilet accident had been a fake to lure her here and if Pedro had also planned something to eliminate his competitor too?

She felt the cold creeping under her skin no matter what she tried to keep herself warm and her blood moving. The time seemed like an eternity in here and the cold took over her body faster than she would have liked. It tired her body and exhausted her mind.

She thought of Sam, of the love she felt for him, but when it came to feelings, the warmth was only apparent and not real, it couldn't save her. She prayed that Sam would be okay and that he would soon notice her disappearance and become suspicious, otherwise she had no chance of returning home alive.

Against her better judgement, she sat down leaning against the door. She could no longer stand, no longer move, even breathing became increasingly difficult and the cold stung her lungs. But she didn't stop banging the box on the door. As tiring as it became by the minute, she forced herself to do it. Over and over again – as we all know, hope dies last.

To be continued...