I stood in the open doorway for about thirty seconds before turning around and rushing back the way I came, dodging boxes as I did. For the first time all night, my fear took a backseat to other, lighter emotions. Yes, Samantha was still out there, but Dan and Al were gone and the way out was finally more than a distant maybe. I forced back all negative thoughts threatening to sprout and concentrated on the good. The door had been found. We would see our families again. We were going home.

"It's here!" I yelled as I reached the trap doorway. "The door! It's down here!"

"Really?"

I watched as Rosalie appeared in the gap, her eyes wide and watery. The smile I couldn't possibly contain widened. "Yes!" I exclaimed. "We're going home!"

"Coden!" Rosalie squealed. As she turned to face Coden, she disappeared from my line of sight, but I didn't have to see her face to know that she had a bright, excited smile on her face. "Coden, Serenity found the door!"

Coden's response was too soft for me to hear. I tossed a quick glance behind me, scanning the rows of boxes, before looking up at the trap door's opening again. "Rosalie, can you please help Coden?" I asked, biting down nervously on my lip. The negative thoughts were growing stronger now. Would Coden be able to make this jump? He'd been shot in the leg, after all, and if I almost lost my balance...

No. We'd be okay. Coden would have a hard time with this, but we'd get him to a hospital and then everything would be fine.

A few moments later, Coden's face appeared over the edge. He was obviously in pain, but his eyes were triumphant as they stared down at me. He didn't say anything, but he didn't have to-we were going home. We were going home.

"How can I help you?" I asked, angling the flashlight so that it wasn't in his face, but so that I could see him properly. My eyebrows creased. I didn't see what I could do to help him. I wasn't exactly strong enough to catch him, and, other than that, there weren't really any options.

"You can't, but that's not your fault." Coden gave me comforting smile and then looked at Rosalie. "You go first."

Rosalie didn't argue. She complied without question, sitting down with her legs swaying in the empty space. Like me, she took a moment to brace herself before dropping to the floor -but instead of sticking the landing, she tripped and fell on her knees, letting out a small cry of surprise. Before I could even begin to ask if she was all right, though, she was standing, muttering a quick, "I'm okay!"

I cast a worried glance above, nervous that Rosalie's cry had been loud enough to hear. But, then again, even if it had been the door was locked and Samantha wouldn't be able to enter.

...And neither would any of the other kids.

"Shit," I hissed. "Should we unlock the door? The other kids-"

Coden cursed under his breath and peeked over his shoulder. The question weighed down on us for what was probably only a few seconds but felt like an eternity. We had a choice: we could leave the door locked and keep the predator out-along with all the others who were trapped here-or we could unlock the door and risk being caught.

A moment later, Coden's face disappeared, and I knew what choice he'd made. Whether it was the smart choice, I didn't know, but I knew that it was the right one. Whatever happened, we could at least say that we didn't lock the other kids away from their salvation.

Coden returned and grasped the rim of the trap door in his hand as he settled, breathing hard. I bit my lip, my anxiety spiking. Would he be able to handle the trip to safety? I had no doubt we were in the middle of nowhere, otherwise the police would have been called in a long time ago. How far was it to civilization? Oh god.

I squelched the thoughts as Coden shifted, grabbing the small handle on my side of the door so he could close it on his way down. He nodded at me, and then, without hesitating for even a second, dropped, the door coming down with him.

He landed weird and collapsed, letting out a string of soft curses as he struggled to sit up. I hurried over to him, eyebrows creased with concern as I grabbed him by the arm and tugged him upright. "Coden," I whispered, gaze shifting between his agonized face and his bleeding leg-which he'd landed on. "Are you-?"

"Fine," he muttered. "I'm...fine."

He wasn't fine. He just didn't see any other choice but to be okay. With our escape imminent, why sit here and moan about how much the pain he was in? In that moment, my respect and admiration for him grew-I didn't think it was possible, but it did. He was so damn strong. If I grew up to be even just a smidgen of how strong he was, I'd be satisfied.

"Okay," I murmured. "Come on. Your family is waiting."

Coden smiled. "Yeah."

With my help, Coden got to his feet, his scrunched face turning to face our surroundings. "Which way?" he asked.

I nodded to the space in front of us. "That way."

"Okay." Coden gave me a small smile. "Lead the way."

I returned his smile, and after draping one of his arms over my shoulders and wrapping an arm around his waist, I did just that. Unlike the first time around, this trip was short and not completely overwhelming. I had a set destination in mind and knew exactly what I was looking for. Rosalie and Coden didn't say a word during our rush to the exit, but I knew they were feeling what I was feeling-anticipation. Excitement. Hope.

When we reached the door, Rosalie let out a squeal and scampered up the steps, only to run back down so she could help me get Coden up the stairs in one piece. For the first time all night, Rosalie didn't look so afraid. She looked...happy.

The door was located at the back of the building-industrial, like Coden predicted earlier that night-so we had to walk around. With each step I took, I simultaneously became more hopeful that we'd make it out of here okay and more panicky that Samantha would figure out what we were up to and come after us. According to the rules of this demented game, we'd reached the safe-zone and were now officially free. But I knew better than to believe that Samantha would let us get away if she caught us outside.

But Samantha never came after us. Soon enough we rounded the front of the building, and, for the first time, I saw the vans they'd used to drive us here. I think I'd warped the image of them in my mind, making them these huge, scary things...but they were just regular vans. An irrational part of me wondered which colored van I'd been dropped into-the yellow, white, or black one? But I shook the thought away. It wasn't important.

"Do you think they left the keys in the ignition?" Rosalie whispered, casting an anxious glance at the building to our left. The metal door we'd been trapped behind glared at us as we passed by.

"Doesn't matter," Coden muttered. "I know how to start a car without keys."

My eyebrows rose. "You know how to hotwire a car?"

Coden let out a spasm of a laugh. "My dad taught me. Mom didn't want him to, but..."

He didn't bother to finish his sentence, because by then we'd reached the closest of the three vans (the yellow one). Rosalie ran ahead, opened the driver's door for us, and peeked inside. "No keys," she announced.

Damn. I wasn't surprised, but I couldn't help but feel disappointed. I'm not going to lie: I was really hoping they were too cocky to care about the keys.

Rosalie checked the other vans, but there weren't any keys there either. So Coden had to hotwire. I watched, amazed, as he slouched forward in the driver's seat and brought the two required wires together. Soon enough, the van burst to life and he sat back, looking extremely exhausted and proud of himself.

I was a little concerned that the noise alerted Samantha, but I didn't pause to listen. Hesitating would only give Samantha time to come out here, and I wasn't about to do that. So I just accepted Coden's hand and then led him to the passenger's side of the van.

"Are you going to be okay alone?" I asked Rosalie as she opened the door for me.

Rosalie nodded. She didn't look quite convinced, but sure enough. "Yeah," she said with another nod. "Let's-let's just get out of here."

I smiled and then nodded back, shutting Coden's door as softly as I could. "Okay," I murmured. "Let's get out of here."

Rosalie grinned, and then she was gone, racing to the back of the van. I followed her lead, making a dash for the driver's seat and hopping inside. It wasn't until I slammed the door shut and wrapped my fingers around the wheel that it hit me: We were getting out of here. We were getting out of here.

We'd survived.

Not yet, my mind reminded me. Now step on it!

And I did.

"I know this is probably the wrong time to ask," Coden said as I started down the barely visible street, his tone lighter than I'd ever heard it, "but you do know how to drive, right?"

"No," I said. "But this seems like a perfectly good time to learn."

Coden's expression turned from teasing to legitimately concerned, and I laughed. "I have my permit," I assured him.

Coden smiled and sat back in his seat, eyes on the road ahead. I pressed down harder on the gas, and we sped faster down the street. Soon enough, the building we'd spent our night trapped and afraid disappeared from sight.

I let out a small, relieved sigh. "We made it," I whispered.

Coden nodded, and when I turned to glance at him, he gave me another smile. "We made it," he agreed.

○

The clock in the van was broken, so I'm not sure how long we drove before we found a house. But when we did, the amount of time ceased to matter. Because a house meant access to a working telephone. And access to a working telephone meant we could call the police and get Coden to the hospital. Yes, yes, yes, yes!

I pulled over in front of the house, unbuckling my seatbelt even before the van came to a complete stop. "I'll be right back," I said.

Coden nodded, and then I was gone, running up the front porch and pounding on the front door. Please let someone be home. Please, please, please.

At first, it appeared that no one heard my feverish knocking. I kept slamming my fist on the door anyway, refusing to believe that this was a dead end. It was early-if they were home, they were probably asleep. "Hello?" I shouted. "Is somebody there? We need help-"

"Hold your horses, I'm coming!" someone shouted suddenly. "Jesus."

I let my hand fall just as the door flew open, revealing a petite, middle-aged woman who did not look impressed to find me on her doorstep at this time of morning. I couldn't care less that she was annoyed. She was here. "Please," I breathed. "We need your help. We were kidnapped, and my friend was shot-"

The woman took in my disheveled appearance, and then she gasped, hand flying to her mouth as recognition sparked in her eyes. "Oh sweet baby Jesus," she breathed. "You're one of the missing children from the news."

I was about to reply-with what words, I had no idea-but she pulled me into her arms before I could. It was strange, being embraced by a stranger, but I hugged her back anyway, tears burning in my eyes. "We need help," I repeated. "My friend was shot."

The woman pulled away, and her eyes briefly flicked to the van before settling on me again. "Come in," she said. "I'll call the police."

As she disappeared somewhere inside her house-to grab a phone, I'm guessing-I turned and ran to get Rosalie and Coden. Together, we made our way up the steps and into the woman's house. I felt my lips curl into a broad smile as the living room greeted us from the other side of the front door. Help was coming.

Coden collapsed on the couch, and Rosalie settled in one of the two recliners, while I remained standing, eyes devouring my surroundings. The living room was cute, with plush furniture and phots decorating most of the wall space. In some of the photos, I saw the woman with who I assumed was her husband and two children, bright smiles on all of their faces. My heart ached for my own family.

"The police will be here soon."

I spun around to find the woman leaning on the doorway to another room, a small smile, comforting on her face. "Thank you," I said softly.

The woman nodded and pushed off the wall, stepping further into the living room so she could get a better look at us. "I'm Beverly," she introduced. "And I'm glad you three are all right."

She meant her words-every single one of them. I could see it in her eyes. The way she looked at us, you would think she was a loved one that had been worrying about us all night. And maybe she had been. I didn't ask her, though. Instead, I told her my name. "I'm Serenity."

Beverly nodded and then glanced at Coden and Rosalie. They murmured their names, and she nodded again. "I'm not an expert when it comes to wounds," she told Coden, "but I have a first-aid kit. Make sure to keep pressure on it, okay?"

Coden gave her a thumbs-up with his free hand.

Beverly gave him a brief smile before holding out her cordless home phone. "Call your loved ones," she said. "Tell them you're okay."

Call your loved ones. In that moment, she couldn't have said anything more perfect unless she told us they were on their way to bring us home. And from the expressions on Rosalie's and Coden's faces, I could tell they felt the same way. I think Beverly understood how grateful we all were, because her expression softened.

I accepted the phone from her outstretched hand, thanked her, and then turned to face my comrades as she headed to find her first-aid kit. Rosalie met my gaze with wide eyes, and I held the phone out for her to take. "You go first."

Rosalie didn't have to be told twice. In an instant she was hopping from the recliner and taking the phone from my hand, a bright smile on her face as she dialed her number. She pressed the phone against her ear, fidgeting excitedly as she waited for a family member to pick up the phone.

"Mom?" she said suddenly. Her expression lit up and happy tears sprang to her eyes. I glanced at Coden with a smile, and he grabbed my hand, giving it a small squeeze. You're next, his grip said. My smile grew, and I squeezed back. No, you are. "It's me! I'm okay. I'm safe."

Safe. I never thought I'd be able to apply that word to me ever again, but as I stood in Beverly's living room and held Coden's hand, I felt it. Safe. I was safe. I was alive.

I had survived.