Damned.

The lights had gone out about an hour ago and the emergency lights were dim and flickered on and off. The hallways of Ashworth were littered with toppled blood pressure machine, lunch carts, and wheelchairs but as far as Michel knew, everyone had been locked into whatever room they'd been in. Luckily, he was with his group in therapy and Dr. De Clercq had rushed out of the room to see what was going on so Michel was free to ramble through his thoughts aloud.

"What do you think it is?" Sofia asked. Her hands were nervously wringing the hem of her shirt.

"It might just be a power outage," Jakob said.

Michel laughed unattractively. "Power outage... If this is a power outage, I'm the king of France."

"Then what else could it possibly be?"

Michel looked around the small circle of patients. All eyes were on him and none of them seemed to have a clue. The only person that Michel had confided in about his suspicions was Alec and they got rid of him tout de suite. Why was he the only one who saw what was going on around here? Hasn't anyone noticed that Alec hasn't been in group therapy for an entire week? God knows there's not much to do around here so how could they not notice?

The Frenchman leaned forward so that his elbows were on his knees. "Something's not right around here. I don't exactly know the details but we are not safe and this is much more than a power outage."

"No, no, no, no, no," Hevana repeated, shaking her head furiously.

"I'm afraid so. There's too much evidence to explain to you all right now but you have to trust me when I say that we have got to get out of here."

"Wait just a second," Jakob said, standing up. "Why should we trust you?"

Michel clenched his jaw. "Arthur, my book supplier, was hauled off never to be seen again under the ruse that he was getting behavioral treatment. Luther, the man who asks everyone for their pudding during lunch, he threw a tantrum and the next thing you know, he gets hauled off to the basement only this time, I followed. I couldn't see anything behind the door and guards but has anyone seen Luther around in about a month?"

Jakob, Sam, Hevana, and Sofia shook their heads.

"Do you think that Alec was hauled to the basement too?" Jakob asked.

"I do not think he was hauled to the basement; I know for a fact that he was because I was there when they took him away."

"Come to think of it," Sam said. "Zeke hasn't been to group therapy in a while either."

"The patients are dropping like flies and the only explanation the doctors and nurses are giving us it 'behavioral correction.' All I'm saying is that these patients that go to behavioral correction are never seen again."

There was a loud clatter in the hall and everyone snapped their heads toward the door, silencing completely. All of a sudden, the flickering lights and the eerie silence gave the room an anxious feeling thick enough to cut with a knife.

"What was that?" Hevana whispered.

Michel exhaled through his nose and shakily stood from his seat. In his experience, whoever goes to see what the commotion is gets killed first but someone had to do it otherwise, they could be stuck in that room until whoever it was came to get them. Michel padded quietly towards the door and tried to get his knees to stop shaking. He peered through the window of the door and saw the lights in the hallway flickering menacingly and the floor was still cluttered with machines, papers, and other equipment but what made Michel gasp in horror was the trail of blood on the wall at the end of the hall.

"What is it?" Jakob asked.

The group shuffled up from their seats to gather around the window to see for themselves when Michel didn't answer. The look of shock and horror was apparent on everyone's face.

"Now do you believe me?" Michel asked.

They backed up from the door and stood in a circle. Hevana squatted and gripped chunks of hair with her hands as she muttered something loudly to herself. They all felt as helpless as poor Hevana appeared.

"But what can we do?" Sam demanded. "I'm not dying here. I'm not!"

"No one in this room is dying," Jakob said.

"How do you know?" she cried hysterically.

"Listen," Michel said fiercely. "The only way we survive is to stay calm. We don't know where anyone is or what anyone else is doing or capable of so we have to be very careful."

"So what's the plan?" Jakob asked.

"You're the military man aren't you?" Michel asked.

Jakob chuckled. "Right. First of all, we need to know what kind of materials we have in the room that we can work with. Flashlights, possibly rope and tape, a map of the facility, whatever useful thing you can find."

The group spread out in the room. It wasn't very big and there were only a few book shelves and file cabinets but there was also a door leading to someone's office. Michel went inside and rummaged through the desk drawers. He smiled when he found a flashlight and a set of keys. There was no way he could know what the thirty-odd keys opened but they may come in handy. Surprisingly, he also found a roster of the doctors in the facility that included resumes and biographies.

He skimmed them but didn't find anything incriminating. At first glance, they seemed like upstanding doctors but there had to be something he was missing. He took his findings and went back into the room with the others. Jakob had found another flashlight and a foldout map of the building. He spread it out on the floor and Michel and Sam aimed the two flashlights on the paper.

Slowly, the group talked and planned all the while keeping an eye on the door.