Keith's scream lingers like a ghost, an echo that refuses to fade. The teens sit in stunned silence, their faces pale, their hearts racing. Sam clenches her fists, trying to steady her breathing. Maddie's hands shiver as she clutches the edge of the couch, her dark eyes wide with fear. Henry glances nervously at the screen expecting it to flicker to life again. Austin, leaning back with a tense jaw, glares at the camera lens, his usual arrogance muted by the situation. Lynne clutches a pillow to her chest, her knuckles white.

"Why would she do that?" Lynne whispers, her voice shaking. "Why would Mother... play that?"

"To mess with us," Sam mutters, her tone sharp. "She's trying to scare us, make us paranoid."

"Well, it's working," Maddie says, her voice cracking. "I don't want to be here. I don't want to do this anymore."

Henry shifts uncomfortably, his fingers fidgeting with the hem of his shirt. "We're all thinking the same thing. But... we can't just give up."

"Give up?" Austin scoffs, sitting forward. "And what exactly are we giving up, Henry? Our freedom? Our safety? Newsflash: we don't have either of those right now."

"So, what do we do?" Lynne asks, her gaze darting between the others. "We can't just sit here with a dead body on the kitchen floor."

A tense silence follows. None of them moves. The image of Keith's lifeless form sprawled on the tiles is burned into their minds, and the thought of touching him... of acknowledging his death in any tangible way... is unbearable.

Sam breaks the silence. "This is all Mother's doing. Or whoever's controlling her. They're trying to break us."

"Why us?" Austin demands, his voice rising. "What did we do to deserve this?"

"Deserve this?" Sam snaps, her blue eyes flashing with anger. "You think this is about what we deserve? This is a game to them. We're just pawns."

Austin stands, towering over her. "Don't talk to me like I'm stupid."

"Then don't act like it," Sam retorts, stepping closer. Her fists clench at her sides. "You think your pretty-boy charm is going to get us out of here? Go ahead, flash your winning smile at the cameras. See how far it gets you."

Austin's face flushes, and he leans in, his voice low and dangerous. "Say that again! I dare you!"

Sam doesn't flinch. "You heard me!"

Before the tension can escalate further, Henry steps between them, his hands raised. "Enough, guys!"

While Lynne and Maddie join Henry's plea for forcing Sam and Austin to stop, Austin glares at Sam for a moment longer, then steps back, mumbling under his breath. Sam takes a deep breath, forcing herself to relax. Henry's gaze shifts to Keith's body in the kitchen.

"We need to... figure out what happened," Henry says hesitantly. "How he died."

Lynne grimaces. "Do we have to?"

"We don't have a choice," Sam says firmly. "If we don't figure this out, Mother... or whoever's behind this... will use it against us."

Reluctantly, they move to the kitchen, stopping a few feet away from Keith's body. The air feels colder here, the silence oppressive. Sam kneels beside him, her eyes scanning his face, his hands, his clothes. There are no visible wounds, no signs of a struggle.

"No cuts..." She murmurs. "No bruises."

"Then how did he die?" Maddie whispers, hugging herself.

Henry crouches beside Sam, his brow raised. "Poison, maybe?"

Austin crosses his arms, his expression skeptical. "You think one of us poisoned him?"

"I don't know," Henry admits. "But we have to consider everything."

"Or maybe," Austin says, his gaze locking on Sam, "someone beat him to death."

Sam's head snaps up, her eyes narrowing. "Are you serious?"

"You're the one who threatened to punch him," Austin points out. "Maybe you followed through."

Sam stands, her fists clenching. "I did, but that doesn't mean I killed him."

"How do we know that?" Austin presses. "You've got the temper for it."

"And what about your temper!" Sam accuses. "You also threatened to punch him."

"I'm no killer!" Austin backs away.

"You surely don't act like it."

Hearing that and feeling pissed, Austin doesn't appreciate that smug remark. About to head towards her, he halts when he hears another roommate, Lynne, stopping them.

"Will you guys stop this!" Lynne interjects, stepping in the middle. "This isn't helping!"

Austin heads to the dining table and sits on the chair trying to calm down. Sam takes a step back, her breathing heavy. Henry places a hand on her shoulder, his touch hesitant but grounding. "We... we can figure this out," he says softly. "But we need to stay calm."

Sam exhales slowly, nodding. "Fine."

Maddie's voice trembles as she speaks. "What do we do with... with him?"

"We... we should move him," Henry suggests. "At least until we figure something out."

Austin shakes his head. "I'm not touching him."

"None of us want to," Lynne says. "But we can't just leave him there."

After a long pause, Austin begrudgingly agrees. He grabs a blanket from the couch, draping it over Keith's body before carefully dragging him toward the front door. Maddie watches with wide eyes, her hands clasped tightly together. Sam stands nearby, her jaw tight as she watches Austin struggle with the weight.

"This door," Lynne says suddenly. "Have we even tried to open it?"

Sam nods. "We did. We tried. It's sealed."

Austin pauses, wiping sweat from his brow. "It just can't be sealed all the way."

"Well, it's like cement because it will not open." Sam replies. "It won't budge. No handle, no lock. Nothing."

Henry steps closer to the artificial front door, inspecting its windowless metal frame. "It's like it was designed to keep us in."

"Or to keep something out," Maddie whispers.

Her words hang in the air, a chilling thought none of them want to entertain. As if on cue, a faint noise echoes through the hallway. A soft, whispering sound, almost too quiet to hear. The teens freeze, their eyes darting toward the source.

"What was that?" Lynne whispers.

The sound grows louder, coming from the direction of the so-called Forbidden Room. Sam's heart pounds as she steps forward, her eyes fixed on the closed door. The whispers are unsettling, like voices just out of reach, speaking words she can't understand.

"It's coming from there," Henry says, his voice barely audible.

Maddie shakes her head, backing away. "There's a reason it's called forbidden. We shouldn't go near it."

"You really think something's in there?" Austin asks, his tone skeptical but tinged with unease.

"I don't know," Maddie says, her voice trembling. "But I'm not going to find out."

She retreats to her room, closing the door behind her. Lynne hesitates, then follows suit, her expression conflicted. Austin lingers for a moment, his gaze flicking between the Forbidden Room and Sam.

"You going to stare at it all night?" He asks.

Sam doesn't respond. Austin shrugs and heads to his room, leaving Sam and Henry alone in the hallway. The whispers fade, leaving only the sound of their breathing.

"What do you think's in there?" Henry asks quietly.

Sam crosses her arms, her stare never leaving the door. "I don't know. But whatever it is... it's part of this."

Henry nods, his expression troubled. "You think it's another part of the experiment?"

Sam sighs. "I hope not. But something tells me we're not going to like the answer."

They stand in silence for a moment longer before Sam finally turns away. "Get some sleep, Henry."

Henry watches her retreat to her room, the tension in his chest refusing to ease. Whatever was behind that door, he knew it was only a matter of time before they found out. And he wasn't sure any of them would survive the truth.