Chapter 16

• I prayed desperately that I could slip away unnoticed or, at the very least, that the chaos of their fight would keep them distracted long enough for me to escape. I didn’t know where I was going—only that I needed to find a vantage point where I could see something, anything. My feet moved instinctively, carrying me toward the backstage area where a faint light glimmered in the distance. The source turned out to be a small, battery-operated LED lamp, its weak glow far better than the suffocating darkness surrounding me.
• The backstage area was empty, to my immense relief. I exhaled shakily, my eyes darting around for an escape route. I needed to get to the basement—the girls were trapped somewhere behind a thick metal door. Every second counted. My gaze landed on a narrow, wooden staircase tucked into the corner. Without hesitation, I bolted toward it, heart pounding, praying it would lead me where I needed to go.
• The stairs creaked beneath my weight, each step echoing ominously in the silence. Finally, I reached the basement corridor. Despite the power outage above, an emergency light bathed the space in a crimson glow, casting long, eerie shadows. I blinked rapidly, forcing my eyes to adjust. The silence pressed heavily on me, broken only by the sound of my own footsteps. I stopped, holding my breath, straining to hear any sign of pursuit. The absence of sound should have reassured me, but instead, it felt like a warning.