The seven of us were gathered around the dining table, phones in hands, brows furrowed. I was scrolling through my settings, trying to find a way to connect to some kind of signal.

"Should I try and make an emergency call?" Lucas suggested.

"I've already tried," Cadence snapped. "It's not going through."

"Okay, look." The first boy—who was seemingly the most authoritative—shoved his phone back in his pocket and straightened. "This is probably an accident, but until signal comes back, we're stuck in here."

His use of the word stuck made my chest constrict a little.

"In the meantime, we may as well just chill out."

"Chill out?" I said, unable to stifle my fear. "The door won't open, what if there's, I don't know, a fire? We don't even know you, as far as we know—"

"And we don't know you either," he said coldly. "As far as we know this is some prank you're pulling."

"Oh, come on," Lucas said bitterly. "You're right. We should just chill out and wait until we can contact someone. And we don't know each other, no. I'm Lucas, this is Annie, Cadence and Sierra."

I narrowed my eyes at the boy. His jaw pulsed.

"I'm Elijah. This is Gabriel—" he pointed at the tall boy, and then to the redhead—" and James."

"We're just supposed to be here for the weekend," Lucas continued. "There must've been a double booking or something, I mean we were sure we booked the top floor for the balcony."

"Us too." Elijah looked out of the darkened window.

"At least we have tequila," Cadence said. I watched her eyes swoop over each boy, and I could almost visualize the calculations going on in her head. "A shot to pass the time?"

A shot to pass the time was quickly two. Each time Cadence bounced around the circle with lime and the tequila bottle, I brushed her off. The locked door now had me far too on edge to drown out that little voice in my head, reminding me of my mortality.

"No thanks." Gabriel shook his head too when offered a second. Like me, maybe he couldn't comprehend us drinking with such a dangerous situation. Something wasn't right.

I watched Gabriel as he observed his friends knock back the shot on a count of three. He had warm brown eyes that focused intently, framed with black lashes and beneath the chestnut curls of his hair.

"This may as well be a party!" Annie said, shimmying towards the speaker to turn up Lucas' music.

"Not if the tequila runs out," Cadence said, looking at the bottle with a pout.

"Good thing we're prepared," Elijah reached over to their luggage and pulled out another unopened bottle.

Great, booze would solve this.

My hunger to get drunk was now incomprehensible as I wrapped my arms around myself. It was nearing ten o'clock, and still my phone showed no reception. I felt a hot sweat sheen my skin, a biproduct of my anxiety.

"Hey," Annie whispered, nudging me with her elbow from my side. "You okay?"

I nodded stiffly and gave her a tight smile. "Just... the situation."

Annie gave me a knowing look and squeezed my shoulder. She was one of the few people who knew about my inner turmoil.

"We'll be okay," she said. "It's just a random misunderstanding, a coincidence the door locked. I'm sure it'll be resolved in no time."

She was right. It was so unlikely this was a result of anything sinister, and my spiraling brain was only worsening things.

"I'm going to use the bathroom," I mumbled, hoping that splashing my face would help ease my racing mind.

The rest of the Airbnb was eerily quiet. The hallway was dark, and I went out of my way to switch on every light I passed. I stopped by our bedroom first, opting to find a sweater to fight the chill that had been brought with the evening breeze.

I froze by my bag. There was breeze in the room. Straightening, I noticed it again. The silken curtains dancing in the wind. The window was open again.

No no no. I shut my eyes and began counting each breath. I probably didn't close it properly earlier. Maybe Cadence came back in and opened it.

Biting back the ball of stress latched in my chest, I paced to the large window and slammed it down, the frame rattling with the force. There was a small latch at its handle, and I locked it shut.

"Now you can stop imagining things," I muttered into the darkness.

"Imaging what?"

I jumped, my heart feeling as if it flew from my body as I spun around to see Gabriel had followed me.

"Sorry," he said immediately, holding his hands up and entering the room. "I was just going to check if we could get out using the windows."

I couldn't speak through the lump in my throat, and so I just stepped aside so he could pass me.

He undid the latch and opened it. I watched him carefully. It was rare that I'd ever describe someone's appearance as breathtaking, but he was an exception. He was the kind of boy I'd double-take on the street, then fix my gaze on the floor as a blush pooled my cheeks.

"It was open when I came in," I blurted, tucking dark strands of hair behind my ears. "I thought I closed it before."

He must have registered the fear in my tone. He smiled in a way I was sure was supposed to be reassuring, but instead it felt intimidating.

"I doubt anyone else could have opened it." He nodded downwards, out into the inky sea. "Nobody's getting in or out of here."

Not alive, I thought. And again, my mind was diving into the dark possibilities.

"None of the windows open to a ledge?" he asked.

I shook my head. "The building is completely flat. Well, save for the balcony."

He nodded, his brow furrowed in thought. "I'm going to go have a look."

I'm not quite sure why I decided to follow him. Maybe it was because out of all of the others, he was the only one who seemed concerned with doing something. I could still hear the others laughing in the dining room. Cadence was in full flirtation mode, her attention fixed on the two remaining strangers as we passed them.

The wind was strong outside, but the fresh air admittedly helped to ease some of my claustrophobia.

"Do you think we could climb to the top of the building?" I asked, craning my neck to see some way around to the back. The wall below us was flat, even the windows of the apartments below blending into the wall. The ceiling was high behind us, with nothing easy to grab onto.

"Maybe," Gabriel said, focused on assessing the darkened cliff face far below us. "It's risky though... If we fell..."

He didn't need to finish his sentence. I paced beside the railing, trying to find anything to give us an escape. "What about, I don't know, flares or something?"

He looked at me, and I sensed he was about to call me out for being stupid. Why would they have flares inside the apartment? But whatever he was going to say, he bit it back and shook his head.

We'd moved back inside to join the others when eventually our dire situation seemed to strike them again. Cadence was shaking her phone, likely more concerned about her lack of Instagram connection than contact to emergency services, but still.

"God damn it," she said, her voice, like usual, octaves higher than everyone else's.

"We're probably going to be stuck for the night," Lucas said with a reluctant tone.

Annie sighed and topped up her glass with beer while the group of three boys exchanged looks. An idea popped into my head, a likely useless one but an idea nonetheless. It was better than sitting around here pretending this was some frat party at home.

I slid into the kitchen, nobody really noticing as I started opening drawers. I'd managed to find a sheet of baking paper and was searching for a marker when Cadence entered.

"Why are you so stressed out?" she cooed, pulling herself onto the counter and swinging her feet. In her lap, she peeled the wrapping off of a bottle of sparkling wine. I frowned, wondering where she'd found that.

"I'm trying to help us get out," I said, running my fingers through the cutlery drawer.

"Why? This is fun." There was a devilish glint in her eyes as she winked at me. "I saw you leave with the tall guy before."

I couldn't help but blush. She always paid attention to every single encounter I had with a boy, despite the situation.

"We were trying to find a way out."

"I saw the way you looked at each other," she slurred, raising her brows.

I looked to where her voice was undoubtedly carrying back to the living room. "Cadence."

"Don't worry, I've got you, girl," she said knowingly.

I rolled my eyes. My fingers had landed on a Sharpie.

Ignoring her attempts to place a drink in my hands, I undid the top of the maker and wrote across a sheet of baking paper.

Help us. Locked in with no signal!

It wasn't much, but it'd do.

Taking the paper and heading to the front door, I tried the lock once more before ducking down and slipping it through the crack, until only a fingertip's width remained on our side.

A little bit of my helplessness had subsided by using my time to do at least something.

"Seriously, Sierra," Cadence continued. She'd followed me, paying no mind to the flow of conversation coming from the living room. "You need this. A distraction from... being so on edge all the time."

I attempted to continue ignoring her, instead returning my attention to the door handle to try jimmying the lock.

"Cadence, the last thing I need is a guy."

She snorted. "No, the last thing you need is to continue to be so uptight. You need to relax!"

I eyed her carefully, consciously trying to avoid lashing out at her. Though she could be air-headed, I knew Cadence's intentions were only pure.

"Hey, guys," Annie spoke from behind us. I hadn't heard her approach, and her voice made me jump.

Cadence and I turned to her. Annie's curly hair was tucked behind her ears, and bags were prominent beneath her eyes. She'd only finished her last exam this morning.

"We've just decided to share the double room. Lucas and I can take one bed and you guys can go head-to-tail on the other... if that's okay."

I'd forgotten sleeping arrangements were now tight. Sleep was the last thing on my mind.

"Or I could join one of the boys in the double bedroom..." Cadence trailed off with a giggle.

"We're good to share," I said, waving Annie off.

"Well, I think we're going to crash." Annie gave a tight smile.

I looked to a drunken Cadence. The sooner tomorrow came, the sooner we could be freed. "We should too."

An hour later, the four of us were crammed into the second bedroom, the muffled speech of the boys in the room beside us trickling in through the wall. I could hear Annie and Lucas whispering, and by my feet the light snores of Cadence. Outside, the wind slapped the glass of the window, and through the silk I could see the glow of the moon reflecting on the ocean.

My heartrate wouldn't subside.

I knew a tube of pills were in my bag designed for specific situations like this, where I couldn't quite quieten that voice in my head. But, I couldn't let myself feel numb. Those were for irrational fears, this one was real. The fear of being trapped. What if there was a fire? What if one of the strangers in the room beside us had planned this... had sinister intentions?

Straightening in the bed, I let the covers fall from my legs and tiptoed out of the room and into the hallway, closing the door behind me. I wrapped my jumper over my shoulders, the chill of the night making my bones ache.

It didn't feel right to be sleeping right now. Pretending things were normal. I couldn't shake the bad feeling.

The lights had been switched off, but the lamp by the humongous sofa was glowing and a figure was curled in the corner, their phone in their hands. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust and to recognize Gabriel.

"Can't sleep?" he murmured, looking up.

I fiddled with the scrunchie at my wrist. "No."

I moved closer, perching on the edge of the seat opposite the sofa. He put his phone down, still not finding signal.

"It feels wrong to sleep right now, almost like someone should be... keeping a look out."

He didn't say anything, but for some reason I sensed an understanding

I was used to being scared. It was a feeling I couldn't shake, even in ordinary life. It clouded things.

I paced to the door again, feeling Gabriel's eyes on me as I tried the handle again. Of course, it resisted my attempt to open it.

Then I looked down, and a gasp left my lips. Falling to my knees and running my fingers through the gap beneath the apartment door, I felt nothing.

Someone had taken my note.

hello! i haven't written an author's note in a Long Time. i hope you're enjoying the story! here is chapter two. i hope to keep updates to weekly minimum, but it should be quite frequent for the next few weeks or so.

what do you think is happening so far?

ann 💕