I would have run after it and given that d**ned card to him – what use to me was a card I was forbidden to use? – but I couldn't get it off the key ring. By the time I'd figured this out, Mr. Blue was climbing into a limo.
I certainly wasn't going to run into the street after him with the entire ring. I didn't want to look silly.
Anyway, the knowledge that I could now grab my stuff and leave at any time did a lot to dispel my anxiety. I slid the key-card Omri had given me that morning onto the ring on top of all the other cards: I noticed as I did so that the ring was very flexible, as if they had all been pulled on and off many times before.
I set off down the hall, shuffling through the keycards one by one. They were all printed with numbers and a tiny map of the complex on the back, with the rooms they opened highlighted in blue. The orange dog padded after me as I went, mouth open as if it were laughing.
After some time, it ran off down a hall with a bark, glancing back impatiently, as though waiting for me to follow. It stopped before a nameless door and barked again, an irritatingly piercing sound.
"Fine," I said. Maybe that was the kitchen or something. But when I slid the card and entered, the dog pushing in ahead of me, I almost stepped right back out.
At first glance, the room looked very much as though it were still occupied. There was a curling iron still plugged in on the vanity, and a boar bristle brush tangled with long strands of silvery-yellow hair on an end table.
The dog hopped up on the unmade bed, turned around three times, and collapsed into the sheets with a sigh. From there, it watched me go around the room with very intent eyes.
A toothbrush and several vials of upscale perfume had been abandoned in the bathroom. To be honest, I was really starting to get creeped out by that point, despite my determination to continue believing everything at Azure Tech was a-ok and normal.
"Look," I said to the dog, "I'm going to go find a kitchen. You can – stay right here. "
And I left. To my relief, it didn't follow me.
Room 52 was full of clothes in all sizes – men's and women's – and one color – navy. I picked out a suit set and the highest set of heels I could walk in, changed, and tottered onwards.
The staff kitchen, when I finally discovered it, was well stocked. I found sandwiches in the fridge. They were very nice sandwiches, and by that time I was very hungry. I sat under the noon sunlight in a cafeteria which had clearly been built for a staff of at least twenty-five, tried not to spill mustard on my new clothes, and thought.
At a little past one, Rude Omri entered, and discovered I had taken the last of the steak sandwiches. I could have sworn I heard him growl as he opened the refrigerator and saw it was gone.
I decided to focus very hard on dissecting my second sandwich, in hopes that he would leave before I had finished. He'd made it quite clear earlier what he thought of me, and my stomach was already sort of sinking and twisting in a way I didn't like, just at the sight of him. It reminded me of my weakness that morning, the shock of someone saying to you what you already think of yourself.
Little matter. I was going to leave this evening. Mr. Blue couldn't stop me from taking off in a public, could he? Heck, I could leave right now if I liked. I would just go live... with Florence. If she hadn't already given Florian an open invitation into her living room for drinks. Which, knowing her... she probably had.
Nevermind.
"What keys did he give you?" Omri asked me urgently.
"What?"
"What keys did he give you? Mr. Blue."
"An awful lot of them. Why?"
"Do you have 139B?"
"Yes... " I said uncertainly. "But he said not to go in."
"Can I borrow it?" asked Omri.
"Um... " I hesitated. "Why?"
"I need to get inside."
"Obviously," I said. "But what's in there?"
"Nothing," said Omri. "Look, I just need to borrow it, ok?"
"I don't think it is ok," I said slowly, after a moment's thought. "Isn't he always – " And I tapped my ear very significantly. And waved my tablet. And widened my eyes.
"She's right," said a voice from the door. It was Dustin. He was now wearing only a pair of navy trousers, which was odd enough, and to make things even weirder he was barefoot. "Have you finally cracked, Oms?"
I was wondering the same thing about Dustin, but Omri answered before I could comment.
"Shut up!" he cried, "I don't care what you think. I have to know if she's –"
"She's not." Dustin cut him off flatly. "You should just leave. Mr. Blue won't miss you."
I listened in bewilderment. I knew by Omri's tone, by his very pronunciation of the word "she", that he wasn't talking about me. The sort of mad, grand infatuation obvious in his voice and in his expression was the sort which has been reserved, since time immemorial, for the 9's and 10's of the world, unless of course you are the heroine of the right sort of internet fiction.
(I have something of a beef with my author on that subject. There are many ways in which my story could have been made more enjoyable, and the lack of any genuine suitors thus far has been quite disappointing. For the record, FBBW does not count. )
"I'm not leaving until I know for certain! Besides, Adon – "
"Adon can take one for the pack," said Dustin. "I'm staying here. At least I get a paycheck for being Barabbas' flunky."
"Who's in 139B?" I interrupted. "Who are you talking about?"
"Neve!" cried Omri.
"And you too, if you fall for his stupid pleading," said Dustin to me. "Don't listen. Do what Mr. Blue says."
"She could still be alive. I would know if she were dead. I have to get in there. Look, Sabrina – "
"Sabilla," I corrected.
"Sabilla," he amended. "I think Mr. Blue may be keeping my - friend Neve prisoner in there. I have to make sure. Please, let me into 139B. You don't have to come in. I just need the door opened!"
I thought about it. I felt all of sudden like I could be of use to someone else again, someone my own age who didn't see me as a potential meal or a reincarnation of a dead aunt, and that was mollifying, despite Omri's earlier insults and his fixation on this Neve. Also, he looked very moving when he emoted: it would have been like saying no to a small and very distraught poodle puppy, with his great, expressive dark eyes and mop of floppy hair.
"Fine," I said.
"Are you stupid?" Dustin blurted out. I ignored him.
"Thank you," said Omri. "I can show you where it is. Just follow me. Why are you coming along?" This last question was directed at Dustin.
"If you're going down, I might as well have a look," said Dustin.
I frowned. "Really? You're not even going to try and stop us?"
"No. Barabbas wouldn't have given you the keycard if he didn't actually want you to go in there. That's how he works."
Look back, I think he was trying to warn me, in his way. The one thing that did seem clear to me at the time was that Omri, at least, thought someone was in need of rescue – and I didn't think it was right to take the chance of leaving anyone stranded in Azure Tech. I hadn't even been there twenty-four hours yet, and I was certain of that.
We came to the end of a long, twisting hall. It was a small door, almost an afterthought, like a storage closet or a stairwell someone had started to build and then forgotten about.
The infamous card was right in the middle of the key ring, and I had to wrestle it off so I could put it through the scanner the right way. My fingers shook a bit as I ran it through. A little blue light flashed on. There was a click.
Omri and Dustin close on my heels, I pushed Door 139B open, and stepped inside.