Devin finished his workout which only happened in his basement for his own safety. Going out in the neighborhood and becoming a member in a gym was something he was not ready for just yet. He would have to survey the area better.

He couldn’t be too careless. His enemies were keen and careful with every move they make.

It had been a week now since he moved in.

His work online was doing good, but not great. But it was still money.

After breakfast, he decided to go back to his room. He had no one to talk to and a good book might be good to help him with his problem. He could read it aloud.

Though he had not seen what was going on in the news, he could tell what was being talked about because he could hear the sound from his neighbor.

People were still talking about Hope Madden being inside a barrel.

Devin shook his head. Surely there could be more news to discuss.

Let Hope Madden rest in peace, he thought.

*****

When Hope woke up, she immediately went to the television and turned it on. For a week now, she had been religiously following the case of the body in the barrel.

People still claimed that it was her.

Her mother was distressed and it seemed that she believed her daughter was really dead.

It was all because of the necklace, a replica of the original one.

Hope never asked Carl about the body in the barrel. If he had anything to do with it or if it was just purely accidental that the same body, with bones the same old as she was when she disappeared, had been a victim of someone else.

After all, Carl was not the only evil out there. What happened in Ohio was enough proof of that.

And if Carl did something like that, it wouldn’t be a surprise.

Before Carl walked in, she had already turned off the news. He left her breakfast and went to work.

Patty was silent today, probably working on with her own chains.

Hope turned the television back on and worked with her window grills as she listened to another recount of the “barrel” case.

She listened at the statements given by authorities.

The necklace was found in the barrel along with the body.

Georgina Madden confirmed it.

The body inside the barrel had decomposed and experts were working with the bones.

The authorities would not give any more information.

The public was eager to know more.

Hope listened as if her life depended on it. Her heart raced in fear that people would start to believe that she was really dead. But most of all, she feared that her mother would give up and start mourning. After that, she would stop hoping her daughter was alive.

Hope would start to die.

Her attention was cut off when she noticed some activity across the window from hers.

Ever since that night when she answered her neighbor, she had been extra aware of his presence and she saw him even before he did.

*****

When he passed by his window, he saw the lady again.

Whatever she was working on in that window, he was not interested. For all he knew, she was in her own world of make-believe as what her father had said.

“Hey!” he called out, glad to hear his own voice.

Her head snapped toward him, but it didn’t seem like he surprised her this time.

He tried to smile. “What’s up?”

Surprisingly, she did not step back and disappear. She just stood there staring at him like he was an apparition.

Well, at least it was an improvement.

“I met your father last week.”

This time she took one step back.

Devin decided he should not continue talking to her about her father’s visit a week ago. It would only lead to the topic of her being schizophrenic and he figured it was not a good idea to tell someone she was crazy.

Instead, he leaned against his open window and looked to the right and up at the sky. “It is a beautiful day today, isn’t it?” he asked.

There was no answer.

He could see her still standing there, looking at him with the same look: Alarm.

She was dressed in a baggy shirt that needed a good washing. He couldn’t see what she was wearing for her pants, but he had the urge to talk to her father again about her comfort. Her room was so dark, her windows had grills and she looked like she was a little bit malnourished.

But he was not her father. He didn’t know what was best for her. He was just a new neighbor who would soon leave if things went well.

From the corner of his eye, he saw her look at the sky. “Yes,” she answered and he barely heard it.

This time, Devin turned his head to the lady. He had to think of something else to say before she would step back into her dark room again.

He was in need of someone to talk to so he could keep his sanity.

His neighbor was his only option as of that moment because she was the safest one.

“What’s your name?” he asked.

She blinked and stepped back. And then she walked away.

Devin shook his head. Wrong question.

But there was something else he noticed.

He heard some tinkling sound when the girl walked away. He never noticed that before, but now he did. It seemed like she was dragging something along with her.

His brows furrowed.

His neighbor was getting more and more mysterious. And he loved mysteries. And the fact that she was crazy, as her father claimed, was making it even more exciting.

He promised he’d ask the right question next time and he’d get through to her before it was time to pack up again and leave.

*****

Hope was leaning against the wall she shared with Patty when she heard the news.

“What are you doing with your chains?” she heard Carl’s voice.

“Nothing,” she heard Patty answer.

“You are lying, Patty.”

And then the voices were gone. The sound of something hitting flesh followed and Hope buried her head in her arms as she listened.

She searched for any sign of Patty’s breathing. She heard a small whimper of pain. Patty.

She heard a grunt followed by another lashing sound against flesh. Carl.

She closed in on Patty’s sounds--the whimper, the groan, the cry of pain.

“You should learn your lesson. No touching the chains until I say so,” Carl’s voice growled.

Hope’s heart hammered against her chest when she heard Patty’s door close.

She lifted her chains and sat on her bed.

Her door opened.

Carl’s eyes went to her and travelled down the iron clasp around her ankle. He followed the trail of the chain where it was attached to the wall.

And then he smiled.

“You dinner is ready downstairs.”

The beating against her chest started to slow down. “I am going down?”

“You have been a good girl.” He walked to her and took out his keys. He freed her from her chains. He held out his hand for her.

It was the very hand that had brought a lot of nightmares.

But she had to take it.

And she did without a trace of fear or disgust.

Going downstairs meant she had the chance to have a decent meal. And maybe a few metals she could use for the grills.

*****

“Our new neighbor seems to have set up his bedroom across from yours,” Carl said as he munched on his food.

“I don’t know. Did he?” she asked, forking the mashed potato.

Carl’s kitchen was okay. Very neat and organized for a man living alone, which made it hard for Hope to take anything without him knowing it.

“What happened to the other girl?” she asked.

He threw her one of his looks and she closed her mouth.

“Eat, Hope, before I drag you back upstairs.”

Hope knew what ‘drag you back upstairs’ meant.

She was not willing to go through it.

“Wash the dishes,” Carl ordered when they were done. He stood up and before walking out of the kitchen, he brushed his fingers against her shoulders and across the back of her neck. Hope shivered in fear.

It was a warning.

Make one wrong move and you’d regret it.

Slowly, Hope started working on the table. She grabbed the bread he left unfinished on his plate and hid it inside her pocket. She added her own and went to the sink.

She carefully washed the dishes while she searched with her eyes for anything she could bring upstairs. She saw the bread knife and she hesitated.

She turned her head over her shoulder. She could see him sitting on his couch watching the news.

“You’re on the news,” he said with a laugh.

She did not answer.

Instead, she brushed away all hesitations and grabbed the bread knife with her soapy hand and pushed it between the waistbands of her pants. She fixed her shirt and continued with her work, her heart almost leaping out of her chest.

Return it, a big part of her brain said.

But this was now or never.

He would not notice, she reasoned.

He always notices.

No, he never noticed the grills.

The antagonist part of her brain went silent.

“Are you done?” Carl’s voice said behind her after a while.

“Yes,” she said, drying her shaking hands.

“Back to your room,” he ordered, motioning with his head. Hope went ahead, one hand pressing against her abdomen to keep the knife in place.

“Everyone seems to think you’re dead in a barrel,” Carl said behind her.

“Yeah,” she uttered in response.

They reached her room, passing by Patty’s quiet door.

Carl replaced her chains. He stood up and frowned down at her where she was sitting down on the bed.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes.”

His eyes went to her hand where she was holding the knife behind her shirt. She nonchalantly moved it away, her heart beginning to race.

Carl nodded and said, “Sleep tight, Hope.” He followed it with a dry chuckle. “Everyone thinks you’re dead in a barrel,” he said more to himself as he walked out the door.

Hope flew to her feet and grabbed the knife from her waistbands and hit it under one pillow. She had to find a place to keep it tomorrow when Carl left for work.

She searched the wall that separated her from Patty’s room. And when her hands found the loose wood plank, she gave it a slight push and squeezed the bread through the small gap in between.

“Eat,” she whispered before putting the plank in place.

“Thanks,” Patty’s pained voice whispered.

For weeks now, Patty had received a lot of punishments. It was not a good sign and she knew her friend was in a lot of pain than she would admit.

Hope nodded and slipped back in bed.

Now she had a knife.

And Carl better not find out about it because they had to escape soon before one of them ended up dead.