"What are we going to do?" London whines. "There are too many doors for us to search every one!"
The hallway branches off into different sections, making it difficult to search the maze of doors. Eliza eyes each of the sections, searching for a pattern or clue, something that hints at where they are to go.
There is nothing.
"Come on," she sighs. "We might as well start walking and see where that leads us." It isn't the most logical plan, Eliza thinks, but what else is there to do?
Sasha strides in front of the group, everyone following him without protest. Even Carolyn keeps her mouth shut, although Elizabeth is sure that she saw her roll her eyes.
The halls turn to the left and they silently make their way through the mansion, Eliza taking note of what turns they've made. Her eyes skim all the doors, hoping to find something to direct them.
"Ugh! We've been walking since forever!" Carolyn moans, much to everyone's annoyance. Sasha stops and turns to the whining girl.
"Well, Miss Web Girl, perhaps we'd be out of here sooner if you'd quit your complaining," he scolds.
"Perhaps you are leading us in the wrong direction!" Carolyn counters. "Heck, you might be the reason we're stuck here!"
No, he couldn't be. Elizabeth knew Sasha, and while he was dangerous and deadly, there's no way he could pull off trapping all of them in this twisted mansion. But then, if it isn't him, who did it?
"Sure, I managed to kidnap everyone and take them to a mansion that I don't know the location of," comes the sarcastic reply.
Eliza wonders where they are. She couldn't think of anywhere that had a mansion. Sasha was in Moscow last time she checked, and Emilie was stuck in London, England with some business. She has no idea where Presley was, but she does know that he was supposed to be with her in both London, England, and Paris.
Yes, she really needs to give him a good lashing. Make him feel the pain she did when she was caught and tortured. But she can see the way that Emilie is not-so-subtly staring at him. Eliza can't do that to her friend.
At least, not yet.
If he hurts her, she decides, I'll whoop him real good. She'd have to be quick if that happens, for Emilie's brother would for sure kill anyone that hurt her. Until then, Eliza must resist the urge to pound his smug face in.
While the group is walking, Elizabeth realizes they are one person short. She stops in her tracks. Eliza turns around only to find that Emilie is the one who is missing.
"Hey!" Eliza calls, drawing everyone's attention to herself, "We're missing Emilie. We should turn back."
"Why should we go back for her? She hasn't been much help." Sasha gestures back the way they came.
"Because we don't know where we are. If we leave someone behind, we might miss a crucial part of why we're here." London reasons.
"Fine." Sasha scoffs, "We'll go back. But if we become lost, that's on you two."
With those final words, Eliza starts walking back the way they came. Sasha follows, hitting London with his shoulder. London, throwing his hands in the air, chases after them.
With a flick of her hair, Carolyn trails after the boys.
After walking for a few minutes, they see a figure illuminated by the light. Emilie stands with her ear against one of the many doors.
"What are you do—"
"Why did—"
"Shh!" she shushes, silencing them. "Listen!"
The sound of silence is deafening and Eliza's ears start to buzz from trying so hard to listen.
"I don't hear anything," Sasha says. They all strain their ears once more, trying to hear whatever it is that has gotten Emilie's attention. Slowly, a small smile comes to London's stupid face.
He catches Emilie's eyes. The distinct sound of murmurs can faintly be heard down behind the heavy oak door.
"Voices," they say in unison.
***
Following the sound of the voices, the group finds themselves in a spacious drawing room.
"All I'm saying is that—" The dark-haired girl is quickly cut off by a handsome young man.
"I don't give a damn about what you're saying!" he exclaims.
"James, watch your mouth," a slightly older blond warns, moving to stand between the two. Emilie seems to watch this boy, never taking her eyes off of him.
"You watch it!" James shoves the blond away forcefully, but he doesn't lose his balance.
Eliza doesn't know what she walked into. Maybe they shouldn't have come here. But these people might know where they are. They are her only chance.
Eliza clears her throat, causing everyone in the room to turn to her. Much to her annoyance, London chooses this moment to make himself at home on one of the two loveseats.
"Would anyone care to tell me what is going on?" she asks, an edge to her voice. No one seems to be intimidated by it.
James smirks, crossing his arms. "Well, isn't this a pleasant surprise?" He turns to the rest of the group, eyeing each of them carefully.
"Excuse me?"
James chuckles, still smiling. "I knew we weren't the only ones in this blasted mansion! Come." He waves to Eliza and her group. "Please sit down."
Carolyn shrugs and walks over to sit on a wooden chair with mustard-yellow cushions. Emilie—who is still looking at the blond-haired boy—and Sasha, however, aren't too keen to comply.
"Who are you, may I ask?" Eliza straightens her shoulders and discretely pats the knife in her pocket.
In response, the group of people look at each other.
"I could ask you the same thing," the hazel-eyed girl says, crossing her arms.
Eliza scoffs, "Just one of the most frightening people you'll ever meet."
"Guys." Everyone turns to where London sits on the loveseat with his feet propped up. "She's not that dangerous. I was able to quickly pin her down."
"I was just going easy on you." Eliza turns to face him, "Wouldn't want to hurt your ego, would we?"
London puts his hand over his chest in mock offense.
"Now, would you kindly tell us where we are?" Eliza stares at the group of people, expecting a response.
The only response she got was from the dark-haired girl.
"They can't be any worse than Mr. Hotshot over here."
"Shut up, Zuri!" James steps on her foot, causing her to hiss through gritted teeth.
Eliza decides she has had enough. If these people won't cooperate, then she'll make them cooperate. She reaches for her knife and grabs the tan-skinned girl, holding her in a head-lock.
"You're going to tell me where we are, or else." She presses the knife against the woman's throat.
"Or else what? You'll kill Naomi?" Zuri laughs. "Puh-leeze. I couldn't care less!"
"Of course not, you only care about yourself!" James retorts.
"Say that about yourself and it might be true!" Zuri counters.
Eliza growls. She has had enough of these two's bickering.
"Quiet!" she shouts. The room goes silent. Even London is looking at her, his feet now off the couch and leaning forward.
"If you can't act like adults here, then maybe you should leave." Eliza points towards the door she entered from with the arm that's not holding Naomi. .
The two look at each other, James sticking out his tongue at Zuri while her back is turned. Naomi gives him a look, causing him to roll his eyes and step back from Zuri. Eliza wonders what sort of power this girl has to control him.
"You two sure are something," Emilie remarks.
Eliza sees the blond guy from earlier step forward, eliciting a gasp from Emilie.
"Felix!" She runs up to him and he opens his arms, giving her a tight hug.
"Ew! It's starting to get cheesy in here!" London fake gags.
James gives him a high five. "You said it!"
Eliza could see that there was a distinct similarity between the two. At least she's found her brother, she thinks.
"Grow up boys," the hazel-eyed girl scolds before turning to the two blonds. She smiles knowingly.
"You are Emilie de Vanily, I presume?" she asks. The said girl looks up at her brother who gives her a slight nod.
"Yes. Do you and Felix know each other?"
"Define 'know'," she replies.
Felix offers a small smile to the girl. "Mia and I were in the same room when we woke up, just as I assume you were with them?" He gestures to Eliza and the others.
"Ah! Yes, well, I am fortunate that I haven't got those two in my party." Emilie gestures to Zuri and James.
Both reel around at once.
"Hey!" they say at the same time.
"Stop saying what I'm saying!" they say in unison again.
James gets a mischievous glint in his eyes.
"Jinx!" both point a finger at each other. James groans, causing Mia to laugh.
"Are they always like this?" Eliza asks, releasing Naomi from her hold. Clearly no one cares about the woman.
"Unfortunately." She ignores the furniture in favor of leaning against a nearby wall. "I'm surprised neither of them have murdered the other yet."
This gives Eliza something to think about. Who exactly are these people? She knows that those who woke up with her are all cold-blooded, but is this group the same? Eliza tries to think: She already knows who Felix is, but that still leaves Naomi, Mia, James, and Zuri. The name Naomi sounds familiar, but she can't quite place it to a specific person. And Mia. Mia looks like...Amelia Taylor.
How could I not notice, Eliza thinks, she's wanted by The Blue Star.
A loud voice calls her attention away from her thoughts.
"Hey! You!" James points at Felix, "How come you didn't tell us who you were?"
While Felix gets in a fight with James, Emilie sits herself next to London.
Eliza sees him whisper something in her ear, and Emilie giggles. Luckily, Felix himself is preoccupied and doesn't notice.
Sasha walks over to her and gently takes her hand, which is still holding her knife.
"I'm far too cautious to give away my name to just anyone," Felix says, stepping forward.
"Well, your sister doesn't seem all that cautious..." James counters.
James shouldn't have said that...
"You're too good for him," Sasha murmurs. Eliza pulls her hand out of his grasp, too busy watching the fight before her. She smirks when she sees Felix grab James by his shirt and lift him off the ground. "Don't you dare speak of Emilie!"
"I'll speak about whoever I want!" A smug grin comes to his face. "What are you her bodyguard? Is she so weak that she can't defend herself?"
Oof, Eliza cringes. You're dead James.
"Felix," Emilie warns. He looks at her for a split second before turning back to his victim.
"It's whomever, bastard!" Felix socks James in the eye with his fist, dropping him to the ground. "Don't you ever say that again."
James hisses and scrambles to his feet, putting distance between himself and the blond.
"Felix!" Emilie scolds, slapping him on the arm. "What have I told you about fighting?"
"He deserved it." Felix glares over in James's direction. "Plus he's a pain in the ass."
"Felix!" Emilie scolds once more. He shows slight remorse when he sees her face getting red.
Eliza is trying not to laugh when Sasha nudges her with his elbow.
"What?" she asks, looking up at Sasha.
"I said you're too good for him."
She's too good for London? Then it dawns on her what Sasha is saying. Ha! He thinks I like turd-face and am jealous! She starts to laugh. In fact, she's laughing so hard that she has to lean against Sasha for support to catch her breath.
"I...don't...even like th-that turd..." she says between breaths.
Everyone looks at the two amusedly and Eliza's face reddens further when she realizes how the others might see her and Sasha.
At that moment, the door decides to open, revealing three people.
"Vhat—"
"Is—"
"Happening."
There in the doorway stands a black-haired boy with round spectacles, an incredibly good-looking male, and a younger brown-haired girl with curtain bangs.
Eliza doesn't know who any of them are. Except for...
"Chase?"*