Charlotte reeled herself in. She had no idea how the others could be so calm, could dismiss Billy so easily. Sure, she was angry with him, and she didn’t want any sort of relationship with him. But he was a human being, and he was in trouble.

And likely, so was she.

Charlotte’s grandmother was Cuban and practiced santeria. She’d seen on multiple occasions what black magic could conjure. Something wasn’t right about this temple, and while Paige and Ethan thought they were hiding a lot of their concern, she recognized it and equated it with the negative energy she felt here.

She didn’t have to study theology to know that almost every faith had a living, breathing evil, and she believed without a doubt that spilling that blood had awoken an evil entity long held at bay. She and Billy held equal blame in that, and if evil had come for him, it would certainly come for her.

She had to get out of here.

But as long as she was panicked and seemed volatile, the others would watch her too closely. She’d never outrun them. She had to calm herself, convince them she was alright. Then, they’d stop hovering over her long enough for her to escape and find her own way out of here.

“Do you really think we’ll be okay if we just stay here tonight and don’t try to leave?” she asked, controlling her breathing carefully.

“Absolutely,” Ethan told her in a voice filled with certainty. If nothing else, he was good at reassurances.

Letting her eyelids flutter, Charlotte nodded. “Fine. I need to go to the restroom, and then I want to lie down and go to sleep.”

Paige’s shoulders dropped visibly with the release of tension. “I think that’s probably best for all of us.” She glanced around the room. “Shall we all go?”

Charlotte clenched her jaw. She’d wanted to go alone, take the opportunity to get away from the others so she could try to find Billy and scramble away from here before some demonic presence captured her. But as she saw the guys nodding, she realized no one trusted her not to cause trouble. Or maybe they were just too scared to split up.

Fine. She’d figure something else out. She followed the group to the restrooms, the only modern part of the entire structure, and she realized this was her opportunity. The others were indisposed, and it would take extra time to come after her. Gathering what courage she had and counting on her determination to live, regardless of what happened to everyone else, she ran from the bathroom, the opposite direction from which they’d come.

She didn’t dare try the front door, after the incident Kyle and Ethan described. She’d find another way out. She turned the flashlight on her phone on and moved as silently as she could down the dark corridor, careful not to bump into anything. It seemed to go on forever, and she listened diligently to assure no one followed her.

But it was deadly silent, which was eerie, to say the least. She slowed down, glancing behind her nervously. She hadn’t heard the group calling for her yet, and they didn’t seem to be following her. Then again, even her own footsteps didn’t seem to make a sound, as if she was in a vacuum.

Ahead of her, she finally saw a door, smaller than average, off the right side of the hallway. It had to lead outside, unless she’d somehow lost her bearings. But she’d been on a straight path this whole time, and she bit her lip as she neared it, trembling with fear. She touched the handle and tensed, expecting some sort of spirit to attack her and stop her, just as they had the boys.

But nothing happened. She didn’t know what to think about that. She didn’t know if they’d imagined it or made it up, but whatever they’d supposedly experienced wasn’t going to happen this time. But why? Why wouldn’t she be as much of a target, if not more? What awaited her outside?

Charlotte told herself she was overthinking. Even if something supernatural did want her to leave, that was her intention, and she had to get out of here. She was more at risk here than if she left, wasn’t she? Determined to go, she opened the door and stepped outside.