He watched Gabriella walk away from him until he could no longer see her. He knew he was delaying this. He should've told her, but the words just didn't come out. How would she react when she found he suspected her of something so horrible? If she was guilty, she'd probably silence him and if she wasn't, he'd have ruined the relationship.

Caden didn't like either of the potential outcomes and decided to wait for more evidence just like Renee suggested. He picked up the broom that he dropped on the floor after eavesdropping on Arthur and continued his work, he didn't want any more trouble.

He tried to keep an eye out for Arthur, just to see what else he was up to, but to no avail. Arthur was nowhere to be found after that. It was odd since he'd usually spot Arthur multiple times a day. Caden did consider that he might still be in his secret conference but felt too afraid to go back there seeing as he almost got caught the last time. 

It wasn't worth the risk.

He kept his mop back in the storage closet and returned to his room. Not long after, Renee had also returned. 

"I'm so glad you're back," He said upon seeing her. "I need some expert advice"

"Go ahead" she prompted. 

"I saw Gabriella today, I was going to ask her about Arthur..." He said and trailed off. 

"But you didn't?" 

Caden nodded and slumped against the chair and Renee sat down next to him. 

"I really don't know what to tell you," She said with a sigh. Caden lifted his head to see her face, which was overtaken by a disturbed look. 

"What do you mean?" He asked. 

"You don't seem like you're going to listen to anything I say," She said "You've already decided that Arthur is the bad guy" 

"What makes you so sure he isn't? He's always been unreasonable and took our weapons away, just so we can't fight him back. And now he's doing some shady business" Caden explained. 

"Maybe it was just... business" Renee argued "You don't even know what they were talking about" 

"I know you have a point, but try to see it from my perspective. As long as we live here, we're under his control and he's planning something big, who knows what'll happen to us?" 

"Then just wait. Everything seems ok so far, if you find out more, then we'll leave" Renee said.

"Opportunities only come once Renee, it's up to us to make it happen the second time," Caden said with a sinister look on his face. 

"Um... What're you suggesting?" She asked. 

"You know how Arthur keeps a curfew? It's probably to keep us all away while he's doing his business" Caden said.

"10 PM is a pretty reasonable time to sleep," Renee said. 

"The point is, we can catch Arthur in the act. He'll not be expecting anyone and will probably lower his guard" Caden said. 

"And what explanation do you plan on giving if we get caught?" She asked. 

"If we get caught" He repeated "We'll just not" 

"I don't like this. Someone could notice our absence" She said with her arms folded. 

"Nobody knows us. They'll never know" He said, trying to convince her. 

"Wouldn't it be easier if you asked your sister?" Renee said, still feeling unsure. 

"I already asked her to help with the weapons, I can't keep going to her," He said. 

Renee remained silent for a while and Caden hoped she'd agree to this. He couldn't do it without her. 

"Ok, fine," She said after a long pause. "But give me until tomorrow to come up with a decent plan" 

"We'll never know what happens at night unless we go, tonight," Caden said. 

"Alright," Renee said groaning. "I'll go wash my face"

Caden knew the risks of what he was doing. This wasn't a game. If he were to get caught, he'd be in serious trouble. Arthur could kill him, considering he was defenceless. But he believed in his sleuth skills, and he'd spent all day roaming around the safe house. He knew the places well, along with good hiding spots in case they heard anyone coming. 

At 8:30 that night, the boxes of food were distributed. While eating, Caden considered discussing a plan with Renee, but then realized that they had no idea what they'd find. They just had to wait and find out. 

At 9:45, Renee nodded to Caden and they silently walked out in the full vision of everyone. Trying to sneak out would only draw more attention to them.

At exactly 9:58, a woman walked through the hallways. Seeing her, Caden and Renee immediately ducked behind a wooden drawer. Renee peeked her head outside and watched her enter their room and fill the jar with water and keep a few clean glasses before exiting and locking the door. The same had to be done for every room, so they decided to stay in this position for a few more minutes. 

By 10:10, Renee's legs started cramping. She wasn't used to staying crouched in a position for so long, she glanced over at Caden who didn't seem bothered by this at all. 

At 10:15, Renee had had enough. And also, 15 minutes seemed like more than enough time to lock all doors and go to bed. She looked as far as she could in both directions and there was no human in sight. She signalled to Caden and got up from her position. 

Caden whipped out a flashlight, but before he could turn it on Renee roughly grabbed his hand and took the flashlight away from him. She pressed a few buttons until the light was barely visible to see what was ahead of them. 

"We just need to make sure not to stumble into anything. Too much light will draw attention" She whispered. Caden nodded and they started to walk out of the corridor that had all the bedrooms.

Renee kept her eyes on the floor that was illuminated by the flashlight and had a firm grip on Caden's arm to pull him away from any obstacles on the floor. Meanwhile, Caden's eyes were above, looking out for any human-like figures. 

As they walked, Caden wondered why there was no one outside. Was the curfew just a normal curfew? Had Caden been paranoid this whole time? 

Caden wanted to go back to the room where he'd initially spotted Arthur, there were the most chances of him being there. Renee went as slow as she could, she didn't want to make any mistakes because they were in a hurry. They finally reached the room and Caden placed his ears against the door. 

Since there was only room for one ear, Renee kept a lookout for people as well as a good place to hide if anyone were to suddenly come. 

After five minutes, Renee tapped Caden's shoulder which made him turn back to face her. Renee didn't need to ask anything as Caden already knew what she wanted to know. 

"Nothing" He mouthed as she placed the flashlight by his face. 

"Ok, then we should head back" Renee whispered. 

"We shouldn't give up" Caden whispered back. "We can still go and find him or at the very least get our weapons back"

Renee wasn't about to dispute that, because that would only end in them screaming. So despite her agreement, she nodded. Renee could feel Caden's sharp breath on her as they walked. It was a pet peeve of hers, but now really wasn't the time to discuss this. 

Suddenly, they heard footsteps approaching them. Renee panicked and started looking for a place to hide. Since Caden had studied these parts before, he knew exactly where to hide. He grabbed Renee's hand and slid inside a wardrobe which was being used to store some emergency medical supplies.

Renee felt her heart pound. Surely the person coming must've heard them.

"There's no one here," A voice said. 

"Turn on the lights, goddamnit. Does everything need to be spelt out for you?" Arthur's voice shouted. Through the blinds of the wardrobe, Caden felt the light being turned on. The light that entered was scarce, but it was just enough for him to get a partial view of Renee's face, which was anxiously looking outside through the blinds. 

The sounds of clattering and Arthur barking orders at people were no longer audible to him as he stared into her chiselled face and her heart-shaped lips. Soon, the lights got turned off and he snapped back to reality. 

"Phew, that was close" Renee whispered after she was sure they were gone. 

Caden was too stunned to speak. He remember the 'listen to your gut' speech he heard a lot growing up and leaned in towards Renee with his lips puckered. 

She opened the door and walked out, making him almost trip. 

"You okay?" She whispered. 

"Yeah, I'm fine" He answered.

She turned on the flashlight and walked away from there.