Aaron used the screw and scratched a line for as long as he could before our lights turned off.
He was up and continuing with the screw as soon as the lights came back on in the morning.

"This might actually work," Cal smiled at me.

"It has to. As long as we all stick together, I think we’ll have a shot at getting out of here," I told her.

"I’ll do anything to see my mom and little brother again," she said.

"We need to figure out what’ll be next," Grant stated. "Aaron can knock Gina out, grab her keys, and then I say we lock her in here."

"We won’t have time to chain her up. We have to unlock each of our chains before we can even get out of here. I say knock her out, unlock us, and leave her in here," Will suggested.

"Agreed," Grant told him. "Let her wake up in here! Then we go up the stairs and out the door."

"But what about the boat?" I asked. "Dean has the key."

"I told you," Will barked. "I’ll take care of him."

Aaron shot him a look. "That works for me. But, you better let me get a couple punches in."

Aaron was still holding his side. He didn’t say anything, but I was sure he knew he probably broke a rib. If he could have, he would’ve wanted Dean all to himself. Allowing Will to do most of the fighting was a big sacrifice on Aaron’s part.

"I don’t care who kicks his ass," Grant laughed. "Just as long as one of you gets the boat key."

"He’ll probably be in the main cabin. Let’s go there as soon as we’re out of here," I suggested.

Grant nodded in agreement and asked Aaron how much longer he’d need before he was done with the scratch on the floor.

"It has to be done before Gina comes back," he warned.

Aaron worked all day on it, perfecting it so it matched and then adding some extra scratches here and there. When he was finished, we all looked over to admire his work. He looked satisfied, too.
"Now we just wait for her," Aaron seethed.
"This is our one shot, Aaron. We can’t afford to be sloppy," Grant advised.

"I’m not sloppy," Aaron’s eyes narrowed. "I got this."

Grant nodded. "I got your back. I’ll be right behind you if anything happens."

Aaron was practically shaking. His adrenaline had him barely able to sit still. I sat down next to Cal. She was picking at her nails nervously.

"This will work," I told her.

"They can fight." She motioned to the guys. "But I can’t. I couldn’t swat a fly! I’m not built for this."

"I’m not a fighter either," I confessed. "But we won’t have to fight. They’ll handle Gina. They’ll get her keys and we’ll get out of this place, okay? Don’t be scared."

She smiled. "In case I forget to tell you, Ryleigh. Thank you. For coming up with this plan and for being so nice to me."

I smiled with tears in my eyes. "You’re welcome. Thank you, too. I don’t think I could’ve made it here without you."

I didn’t say it to Cal, but I was incredibly nervous. We would get one chance for this to work. If anything happened differently than we expected, we might never escape.

I was afraid of what Gina or Dean would do to us if our plan didn’t work. If Gina got away or if Dean happened to come down the stairs, we’d be finished. After the beating Aaron took, I didn’t want to imagine what they’d do to us after pulling a stunt like this one. This had to work. I was frightened, but thought we actually had a chance of escaping.

Cal and I decided to stretch our muscles since we’d have to run out of there and hadn’t used our muscles at all. The guys actually followed suit and twisted and turned in preparation. Cal and I grabbed hands and stretched back and forth. She looked at me and spun me around by my hands like we were dancing. We both started giggling, giddy as the excitement set in. The guys must have felt the same because Grant laughed at us and even Will cracked a smile, although it was an evil looking smile.

Cal spun me around like a ballerina and then we pretending to ballroom dance. She dropped my hands and bent over laughing. Grant slid over and bowed as I giggled. He took my hand and twirled me around. Then we spun around and around so fast that I got dizzy. I screamed out just as he caught me, both arms wrapped around my waist. We both started laughing and I hoped he didn’t notice my cheeks flush.
"Playtime’s over," Aaron hissed.

Grant cleared his throat and slowly lowered his hands from my waist. I walked back over to Cal. We caught our breath and I felt as ready as I ever would. We sat down and drank some water. As soon as we had settled back down, we heard the cabin door open and close.

"This is it!" Grant said to all of us. "Everyone stay calm and act normal. Act how you always act. We don’t want her to get suspicious. Aaron, I got your back, man. Will, stay alert, too, just in case."

"I’ve got this," Aaron whispered.

"Okay, let’s do this," Grant said softly.

We heard footsteps coming down the stairs. I was trembling. Cal reached over and squeezed my hand. I looked over at her and we nodded.

As Gina punched in the code on the keypad, Aaron was physically shaking with adrenaline rushing through his body. He got into position and tried to steady his breathing. Grant leaned against the wall and pretended to doze off. I looked at Will. He sat up against the wall, staring straight ahead like always, except I knew that he was ready to pounce. It sent shivers down my spine. I didn’t know how to fight, but I was ready to do whatever I could to get out of there.

Gina slid open the door and stared at us. Cal and I looked down at the floor. Gina held a tray and stepped in. Her eyes scanned the floor for the mark. She hesitated a moment, confused.

Just a few more steps inside.

I glanced out of the corner of my eye, looking for her feet. She was so close to the new mark. Placing the tray on the ground, she went to kick it over to us, but missed. She hadn’t stepped close enough. It only went a few inches. She sighed and looked up quickly to make sure we were all against the walls. Then she took another step to get closer to the food tray.

This was it. She had not only gotten to the new mark, but was even a little closer to us than that. It was more than we had hoped for. I could see Aaron physically shake. His eyes fixed on Gina and he attacked. He grabbed her legs and pulled her down swiftly. She yelped in surprise and landed face down with her hands out. Aaron held her down and grabbed both her hands behind her back. She struggled but didn’t give up. Aaron bounced on top of her wiggling body. With one hand, he held both of her wrists. With his free hand, he began reaching around her for the keys. She was twisting and turning, laying down flat over his hand and pushing down to crush it.
Gina tried to fight him off. She was stronger than I expected. Aaron was also still badly injured, although he didn’t wince in pain once. She was trying to roll over and wriggle her arms free from his grip. Aaron pushed her by her wrists down to the floor with such force that she hit her forehead on the cement. He grabbed her keys and tossed them to Grant.

Grant caught them and found the key to unlock his chains and then Aaron’s. Then he ran over to Will and unlocked him. Cal and I were shaking as we waited our turn. Will ran to Gina and held her down along with Aaron. Grant unlocked Cal and me finally. I looked at my ankle without the chain around it and couldn’t believe how happy I was at that sight.

"We’re out. Let’s go!" Grant yelled.

Gina was on her back, screaming for Dean. Aaron was on top of her grinning. He punched her across the face with his right arm and flinched in pain, but I could tell it had been worth it to him. He got up as Gina groaned. We all ran behind Grant except for Will. He stood over Gina and then leaned down and punched her as Aaron had. But his was much harder. Blood gushed from her nose. He waited, staring over her in a trance.

"Will!" Grant barked. "Let’s go!"

We rushed out, Grant sliding the door closed behind us. "Aaron, you get in the back, behind the girls. Will, you follow right behind me."

I didn’t stop to question the order. We lined up and started up the stairs. I bolted from the line and Grant yelled out to me. I didn’t stop until I made it to the cabinet. I grabbed the drawer open and reached inside, finding the rest of Gina’s injections and stuffed them into my pocket.

Grant nodded and then turned to lead us up the stairs. At the top, he grabbed the door handle and pushed it open. I was behind Cal with Aaron in back of me. Grant and Will blocked my view, but I trusted them enough to blindly follow them out. The door flew open and light flooded in.

Then I heard Grant gasp. "Who the hell are you?"

Next Chapter: Ten