After their close call, Renee wasn't willing to look further. They got lucky this time, to have a hiding place, as well as a not-so-smart person, come to investigate. She grabbed Caden's shoulder which made him turn back. 

Taking one look at her face, he knew what she was going to say. Normally, he would've argued further, but he was also nervous after what happened and agreed. They tip-toed back to their room and opened the door which made a creaking sound. They prayed that no one would wake up due to the noise. They silently placed their mats in an empty corner and went to sleep.

It took a few minutes for Caden's heart to stop pounding. He'd made it back without getting caught, but also found nothing. He needed more evidence against Arthur but it seemed as though he'd become more conscious. He closed his eyes, trying to think of different ways to gather evidence against him, in a less risky way. 

Renee on the other hand was unable to keep still. She was not usually the sneaky type and kept shifting positions in her mattress, trying to find a good position to sleep. She could get over the secret mission they'd just returned from, but what she couldn't get over was the kiss Caden attempted to give her. 

She did notice that and moved away on purpose. They needed to sneak away and dealing with Caden's romantic fantasies was the last thing on her mind. It did take her by surprise, however. Prior to this, Caden never showed any signs of liking her. In fact, he seemed to despise her in the beginning, and while she knew he was starting to warm up to her, she wasn't expecting such feelings.

Her first impulse was to confront him but then decided against it. They had enough going on with Arthur and letting him know that she knew about the kiss and that she didn't reciprocate his feelings would add unwanted weirdness between them. 

»»————-　☠　————-««

That morning, everyone was instructed to go to the announcement hall to have a 'word' with Arthur.

"What does he want?" Caden asked in annoyance after he got the news.

"I don't know" She replied with a shrug "But we should go, it's almost time for the announcement to start" 

They got to the hall, which was the same hall where the rules were stated and their weapons were taken. They found two empty seats in the fourth row and sat there waiting for Arthur to come. Since there were more people than seats in the hall, the last ones to arrive had to stand at the back. 

Arthur came in, surrounded by his bodyguards and made his way to the mic. Everyone immediately quit their conversations and silence filled the room.

"I won't take much of your time as I'm aware of all the work you have ahead of you," He said. Caden tried to read the expression on his face to understand where this was going but to no use. His face was emotionless and his eyes were narrowed, looking only at the mic. 

"We have received certain tips and while we don't have evidence to punish anyone yet, I thought it is vital to remind you all of the rules" Arthur continued. Hearing this sent a chill down Caden's spine. He knew that Arthur was talking about him, but he needed to play it cool. 

Renee wasn't as fazed as Caden was. She knew that one of Arthur's minions was looking for them, she had seen this coming. She was just relieved that they didn't have any solid evidence yet. 

"After 10 PM, everyone is to stay in their respective rooms. No excuses will be entertained. Keep away from the restricted rooms, no entering, peeking or hovering outside these rooms is permitted" Arthur continued reading from his script. He was finally done reading all the rules. 

"If anyone is found breaking these rules, they can either be shot on the spot or thrown out to be eaten by the undead. Depending on my mood" He said and walked away, not waiting to see the reaction of his audience. 

Caden gulped as he walked out with Renee. 

"This is exactly why I told you not to sneak out" She whispered. 

"I know, I know, I'm sorry," He said. "I was just trying to get evidence against him" 

"That's not working out very well is it?" She snapped. "You heard Arthur, we could either die here or get kicked out and die anyway. I don't know about you, but I have not come this far just to lose it all following your flimsy evidence" 

Caden's face shrank. He knew from the start that they were doing something risky, but he didn't realize Renee was so against it. 

"If you thought so, why did you even come with me?" He asked. 

"You didn't exactly listen when I refused," She said, her anger growing. 

"I know I can be pushy sometimes, but if you really didn't wanna do it, you shouldn't have come. But that's not how it is, you secretly wanted to come too, you're just using me to make yourself look better!" He bellowed. 

"That is so not true, you never left any room for argument. And the only reason I came, was to make sure you did nothing stupid!" She screamed back. 

"I don't why you always think I'm an idiot. You may be smarter, but that doesn't make everyone else around you a complete dipshit" He said, frustrated. 

"I didn't mean it like that! It's just that-" Before she could say more, they were interrupted by Gabriella. 

"Stop shouting for god's sake, do you want Arthur and everyone else to know it was you both who snuck out?" Gabriella said, whisper-shouting.

"What are you talking about? It wasn't us-" Caden said.

"Yeah, drop the act. I saw you outside Arthur's meeting room last night" She said. Caden and Renee went silent upon hearing that. This whole time they were proud of themselves for pulling it off, but now they just felt stupid. 

"If it were anyone else there, you wouldn't be here right now, and there'd be nothing I could do to help you," She said, with anger.

"I've had enough of talking about this," He said, eyeing both of them before turning away to leave. 

"Stop right there," Gabriella said. "We're not done yet"

He turned back with a sigh. He knew yelling and fighting weren't going to solve this, so he tried a calmer approach.

"Look, I know I messed up and I'm sorry ok? To you too, Renee. I didn't realize it would go so far" He said, genuinely. Renee smiled at him softly and he knew that she forgave him.

"Whether I forgive you or not is irrelevant, what were you even doing there?" She asked. Caden peeked over Gabriella's shoulder and realized that this wasn't a good time to have this conversation.

"Now is not a good time, Gabby," He said, lowering his voice. 

"Ok, come with me," She said, dragging his shoulder.

"You coming, Renee?" Caden asked. 

"You carry on, I shouldn't interfere in your thing," She said awkwardly. Caden nodded and left with Gabriella who took him inside a broom closet.

"Well, speak up" She demanded.

"Look, I needed to find evidence against Arthur," He said.

"Against Arthur?" She repeated. "What about him?" 

"Oh please, I'm pretty sure you know what I'm talking about," He said and turned away from her. She moved right, to be able to meet his gaze.

"What are you talking about?"

"The other day, I saw Arthur in those meeting rooms and heard him talking to two of his minions. I don't know what they were talking about but it was something big" He replied. 

Gabriella was shocked, she wasn't expecting this. She knew Arthur was not the nicest, but betraying everyone was just not something she pictured him doing.

"You-you must be wrong about this. Maybe it was just something confidential" She said.

"Even now, you support that bastard!" He moved closer to her. "If you heard what I did, you would not be saying this" 

"Well then, be more clear! What exactly did you hear?" She asked. 

"Arthur said something about not being able to sneak in there all the time. If he was really innocent, why would he need to sneak in?" Caden asked.

"I suppose you're right," She said biting her lip "But why would Arthur want to hide anything? He's so... ambitionless" 

Caden chuckled at that.

"But how the hell did you expect me to know anything that's going on here? As if Arthur would ever share anything with us" She said. 

"I... It's just, you were staying in that day, I'd just assumed you guys were covering for him or something..." He said trailing off. 

"You really thought I'd do that?" She asked. 

"I didn't believe it at first, but the evidence made me believe otherwise," Caden said.

"It's no excuse! You could've spoken to me earlier!" She said. "You told Renee, a girl you've known for less than two weeks, but didn't think to talk to me?" 

"Gabby, no, it's not like that," He said. But his words didn't make any impact. Gabriella looked shocked and hurt at the same time. Caden knew he should've asked her, he even came close to it but backed away. 

"It's ok, Caden, I'll probably get over it. But until then, I just need you to leave me alone" With that, she left the closet leaving Caden standing there alone. 

"I really messed up" 

Author's note: Hey guys! How are you all enjoying the book so far? And who is your favourite character? Merry Christmas and see ya next Sunday!