We took the elevator together back up to the top level, where I hurried up the staircase. Reaching the top, I poked my head out.
River gasped.
And I instantly felt like a fool for not guessing this might happen.
There wasn’t a single person in sight.
It felt like someone had just driven a knife through my chest. As if the guilt wasn’t already hard enough for me to bear…
Shock soon turned to anger.
River insisted that I check the camel stables just in case, and I did, but of course, they were filled with nothing but camels.
No. Something, someone, in this place was messing with us.
“We’ll go back down,” I said, trying to steady my breathing. I raced across the sand and reentered the trapdoor with River. My hands closed even more tightly around her calves. She was the only person I had left, and I sure as hell was not going to lose her. They’d have to pry her from my dead hands.
Arriving back on the topmost level, I was about to rush toward the elevator when River said, “Look!”
She was pointing to my right. I turned my head to see a large leopard with a rich silky coat, standing perfectly upright. His forelegs were tucked neatly in front of him as he watched us through orange eyes.
“A leopard?” River whispered.
I nodded slowly, maintaining eye contact with the creature. I wondered what he wanted. When he hadn’t budged after ten seconds, I grew tired of waiting and continued toward the elevator. But as soon as I made to move, the leopard let out a low purr and moved from his spot. Bolting across the floor with alarming speed, he planted himself directly in front of me, blocking the entrance to the elevator. Irritated by the distraction, I was about to force him aside. But then the elevator doors slid open and he stepped right in, making room for me. I followed him in, keeping a close eye on him as we descended in case he took a liking to River’s flesh.
Pushing aside thoughts of this animal, I tried to organize my panicking mind. I had to be calm and collect my thoughts, or there would be no hope for any of us.
I decided that my first stop should be Lloyd’s apartment. Despite the way we had parted, he always had been friendly to me, and besides, he seemed to be the weak type—possibly the easiest to scare and get information out of. I hit the button for his level—the same level my apartment had been on.
To my aggravation, although I’d hit the button twice to make sure it registered, the elevator continued descending right past the level.
This had never happened before in all the time I’d spent here. That it should happen when I was in the worst of hurries was just my luck…
I tried to stop us on the next floor down, but the elevator didn’t stop there either. I kept pushing the buttons for each of the levels we passed by, but the elevator doors remained tightly shut. We were forced to remain inside until we reached the lowest level, when finally the doors slid open. The leopard sprang from his spot in the corner and padded outside before me. Not bothering to see if the second elevator that ran parallel to this one would be working, I hurried out toward the gardens, intending to just leap up to Lloyd’s level.
“Brace yourself,” I muttered to River, as her arms tightened around me.
Another purr came from behind me—much louder than the last, it bordered on a growl. I looked back to see that the leopard had followed us. He sat in that same neat position only five feet away.
I was about to ignore him again when he did something with his head that arrested my attention. He moved it sharply to the right, toward the opposite side of the atrium. I could have sworn that he was nodding. Then he began moving toward the direction he’d indicated, but only walked six feet before stopping, turning around and making eye contact with me again.
“He wants us to follow him,” River whispered.
Since I wasn’t exactly overloaded with alternative ideas, I began to follow the creature. He led us into one of the orchards, then across it toward the other side of the atrium, along the veranda, until we reached the small room that held the entrance to the prison down in the basement.
The leopard approached the door to the room and nudged it with his head. It had been ajar, and now swung open slowly. He stepped inside, and I followed, maintaining about three feet between us. The small bare room was dark, as it usually was. The leopard stopped in front of the heavy door on the opposite side of the room that led to the prison and perched on his hind legs.
“What’s he doing?” River whispered.
I had no idea, but I was beginning to regret following this animal. I feared that we were just wasting our time.
The door was locked, as it always was. There wasn’t any sign of the key in the room. I didn’t know why this animal wanted to lead us down into the human dungeon. For all I knew, he wanted us to feed them.
“Let’s go,” I said, breathing out in frustration.
There was a sharp click the moment I turned my back on the creature.
“Look,” River gasped.
She craned her neck behind us. I turned around to see the door had clicked open, and was now being pushed against by the leopard. He nudged the door, then pushed it open wide with his agile body, before sitting on the other side of the doorway, resuming that same calm, patient position.
Now this cat had my full attention.
I had no clue how the door had unlocked like that. I half expected to see someone standing on the other side as we stepped through, but there was no one. Just the leopard. Once we had stepped through the doorway, the animal began heading down the staircase, leading us down to the basement.