It feels good to have someone trust you enough to make themselves vulnerable. I have to make sure to never take advantage of that and open up to her in return. I snapped back to reality as we were approaching part-time guards, and fellow full-time prisoners, Conrad and Emma. Conrad had a very excited look on his face, but Emma had her usual unperturbed expression. Maybe she was trying to hide her own excitement. After all, who wouldn’t want a brownie from the Ultimate Baker?

“Glad to see you’re both not dead! Now, where are the goods?!” Conrad asked.

“Jeez, you’ve got no tact Conrad,” Emma said. “We have to pat them down first. It’s our job after all.”

“Oh, right. Alright, Ryder, lemme pat you down.” I obliged. He ended up being quite thorough, which I suppose is good for the situation we’re in. “Alright. You’re good to go.”

After we finished, we noticed that Emma started her search as well and we couldn’t help but watch. It started off normal, but Emma definitely wasn’t joking when she said she was going to provide “quite an in-depth search.” She was grabbing and fiddling with each and every area of her body, seemingly checking every crevice. She was getting under her clothes too, and once her hand reached down lower…

“Eep!” Marin squealed. “I know I promised you an in-depth search but at least buy me dinner first if you’re going to go that far!”

“Correct. You did promise me an in-depth search where you said, and I quote, ‘I swear I’ll let you be as in depth as you need to be…’ so suck it up,” Emma said, continuing her search. “This is punishment for making us ineffective guards.”

“It was a very convincing bribe though…” Conrad added.

“We only let you guys bribe us because we like you,” Emma said in a cold tone which was contrary to her meaning. “Don’t expect special treatment every time.” Emma then finally let go of Marin.

“God, I’m done making promises without thinking of the consequences,” Marin said while rubbing her backside.

“Okay, now let’s enjoy some brownies!” Conrad said.

“Uh-uh,” Emma said while wagging her finger. “We like you, but that doesn’t mean we’re not going to be as careful as possible. You could be really good liars after all.”

“What now?” Conrad said, obviously fed up by the constant roadblocks between him and the divine chocolate treat waiting for him.

“Marin and Ryder must eat their brownies first, and they need to eat from the plates they handed us. One of them could be trying to poison us after all. Trust is a hot commodity these days, but it’s not one we can all give so easily.”

“I totally understand,” Marin said. She didn’t seem bothered by the insinuation at all. “C’mon Ryder, let’s show them why they should trust us.”

“Okay,” I said while taking Conrad’s plate and switching it for my own.

We each took a bite of the brownies that we had given to Emma and Conrad. Within the first second, I was in heaven. Brownies were already one of my favorite desserts but having them made by a great baker like Marin, you can definitely see why the one dollar boxes of brownies can’t compare to the real thing. Conrad must’ve seen my blissful expression because he didn’t even wait for us to eat any more before he started downing his. After a couple more seconds, Emma succumbed to the temptation as well.

“I can never go back to regular brownies again,” Conrad said, holding his cheeks with a blissful expression on his face. “Will you marry me, Marin?”

“No, I won’t. But I’m happy that you enjoy them! Ryder and I worked hard!” Marin said with a big smile.

“These really are amazing Marin,” Emma said. “Even if they are poisonous, this might be worth dying for.”

“The only poison in there is the sugar, but that’s only bad in very large amounts,” Marin said. “I guarantee they are safe as long as you enjoy them in moderation.” She looked over at me. “So, how do you like them Ryder?”

“They’re amazing. You truly are the confectionery queen,” I said while bowing to her once more.

“You are too kind,” she said while once again bowing back to me.

“Oh shit, look at the time! The headcount is happening in less than seven minutes! You two better get a move on,” Conrad said.

“You, and Ryder should leave before us to provide the proper distance between our arrivals, so it’s not suspicious. We don’t want anyone to suspect we made an exception for you both and cause any issues,” Emma said.

“That makes sense. Alright, Ryder, let’s go meet up with the others.” I nodded and we went on our way after leaving the tray of brownies in the kitchen fridge.

We walked up to our dorms and saw that just about everyone was present except Emma and Conrad of course. The only other people that were missing were Keon, Carmen, Cyrus, and Louis. Many were having conversations amongst themselves, but Maya and Mia walked right up to us when we arrived.

“Jesus, you two took your sweet time getting here,” Maya said. “You two didn’t even come from your dorm. Did you sneak off to do something evil, or something nasty? Or both?!”

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

“Maya, please!” Mia said while tugging on the back of her sister’s shirt.

“Nothing nasty or evil was done I promise. We were just looking around and getting a good feel for this place,” Marin responded. “We figured there must be a weak point somewhere in this building so we thought we’d put in a little overtime and see what we could find. Sadly, we didn’t find anything of note.”

Marin almost convinced me with the way she was talking. I guess she’s a pretty good liar.

“Likely story,” Maya responded. “Oh, well. Doesn’t matter. It’s not like everyone is going to show up for the headcount anyway.”

“Why do you say that?” Marin asked.

“Louis won’t leave Maya’s dorm…” Mia explained.

“That fucking bum won’t leave the damn bathroom!” Maya yelled. “I swear to God he’s going to make me blow a gasket. We better find a way out tomorrow, or I will lose it.”

“Did anyone try to talk to him?” I asked.

“What do you think, dumbass?!” Maya remarked. “I’ve been screaming at that scumbag all day to let me use the bathroom and he hasn’t budged.”

“That’s probably not the best way to get him to leave…” Marin said. “Louis is definitely a bit sensitive right now, so if you’re raising your voice at him, he probably isn’t gonna feel very safe being near you. We might need a slightly softer touch to change his mind.”

“I can be soft! I just lost my patience arguing with that airhead,” Maya said.

“It’s not an argument if you’re the only one talking, sis…” Mia said. Maya sighed and rolled her eyes.

“Fine. We’ll get someone else to coax him out. If four-eyes wants to put himself in charge then we’ll leave it up to him to figure it out,” Maya said.

“I’m sure Keon will come up with something,” Marin said. “He already said he won’t stand for someone being absent anyway.”

Attention students: It is now 10pm and the cafeteria is now closed. Sleepwear will be delivered to each of your dorms individually by Jane, our wonderful housekeeper, starting at 10:15pm in a counterclockwise path. Sleep well, so you can train those brains during your stay!

A few moments after the announcement, we saw Conrad and Emma walk to join the group while Keon finally made his appearance with Carmen walking by his side. Cyrus had also joined sometime during our discussion.

“Hello, everyone,” Keon said while raising his right hand. “I’m glad to see that we’re all here. It truly is a lot safer if we do these headcounts every night. We can’t let our captors get their way after all…Wait. Where's Louis?”

“That jackass won’t leave the bathroom in my dorm. I did everything I could to get him out, but he’s being a little baby,” Maya said with a pout.

“I should have known we’d run into a snag or two on the first day’s headcount,” Keon said, rubbing his temple. “We need to make sure he’s not hurting himself in there and get him to be more personable around the rest of the group. There’s strength in numbers after all, and I foresee having a very knowledgeable electrician will help our escape at least in some capacity.”

“How are we supposed to get in though to talk to him?” Miles asked, thrusting himself into the conversation.

“It’s simple. We have face ID locks, so we just need Maya to let us in,” Keon said.

“It is truly simple, Miles. Don’t ask stupid questions,” Atticus said, taking another of his ever-frequent stabs at Miles.

“Shut the hell up!” Miles retorted.

“Let us in if you’d be so kind, Maya,” Keon asked.

“Okay, I guess. People being let into my room is not going to become a frequent thing though! You better get this weasel under control,” Maya said.

Maya then went up to the door panel and put her face in frame. The door scanned her face and promptly unlocked with a click. It’s crazy how this technology seems so advanced and yet it’s being used in a location like this. There’s definitely something they’re getting out of this if they can pour this many resources into this place.

“I’ll go in and convince him to come out and become part of the group,” Keon said.

“Put those alleged skills to work buddy!” Cyrus yelled from near the back of the group.

Keon rolled his eyes and went into the room by himself. Everyone stayed behind but were quite close to the opening of the door like they wanted to try and overhear their conversation. I was close to the front of the group, but even I could make out next to nothing other than one voice which was definitely Keon’s. After what felt like around a minute, Keon and Louis both walked out of the dorm while Keon had his hand on Louis’ shoulder.

“Well, that didn’t take long, Keon,” Carmen said. “Care to explain how you convinced the recluse to join the rest of us?”

“We just came to an understanding. That’s all,” Keon said.

“I-I’m sorry for being a burden. I p-promise I’ll make an attempt to help get us all out of here,” Louis said.

“Wow! He speaks! Now if we could only get Ryder to start talking some more, we’d have all hands on deck!” Conrad said while playfully elbowing my side. I couldn’t help but just muster an awkward laugh.

“Leave Ryder alone. He’s been keeping Marin entertained and I count that as him pulling his weight,” Amber said jokingly.

“I’m not some rambunctious pet!” Marin responded in the same jocular tone.

“Regardless. We’re happy to have you on the team, Louis,” Conrad said while holding out his hand to him. Louis took his invitation and shook his hand weakly.

“I’m happy to be of s-service.” Louis said, his voice still slightly shaky.

“Well, with Louis present, everyone is safe and accounted for. I’ve also already gone over inventory with Carmen and there are no discrepancies at this time,” Keon said. He then turned to Conrad and Emma. “How about from your two, anything of note to report?”

“N-no! Nothing to report at all!” Conrad said, obviously nervous.

“Nope. No one came,” Emma said confidently. Keon was silent for a moment but seemed to brush it off.

“Good to hear. Also, starting tomorrow night, there will be full-body searches before we disband. Everyone is free to go to sleep in their dorms for the night. Thank you all for your cooperation.” He then retreated to his dorm with Carmen at his side.

“Jeez. He acts so high and mighty like we didn’t say that we were only going along with this single condition of his. Like I’m gonna let him search me! Guy’s a fucking nutjob,” Sienna said.

“C’mon Sienna, you’ve got to admit that getting Louis out of the dorm so quickly was pretty impressive,” Amber said. “I doubt anyone else could’ve managed that.”

“I agree. Besides, we need a strong voice of reason in times like these,” Emma said.

“The man tried to get rid of our pillows! It’s enough of a prison as it is without him playing warden. Whatever, you all do what you want. I’m going to bed,” Sienna retorted.

“I wish we could all just band together. Some people are so stubborn…” Marin said. “You ready to go back to the dorm Ryder?” I nodded.