Lucy I keep retreating to my room. No one else has claimed this space, and I like having it to myself. The compound feels smaller right now than it did for the sixteen years I was crammed in these curved walls. I hear Charlie and Lukas arguing in the study. Charlie tries to be rational, Lukas is everything but. There’s a soft knock on the door, and then Basil’s voice. I dread talking to her. She knows what the cost of my cowardice has been. Her being locked up in a dark room for weeks. I’ve been avoiding the conversation I know she’s looking for. “Lucy, can I come in?” She carries a plate of food with her as she slips through my door. My stomach growls, I haven’t eaten all day. “Of course,” I say, eyeing the carrots. There’s a dip I don’t recognize, and Basil notices where my eyes have focused. “It’s bean dip. Fava beans. One of the girls from Headquarters brought them with her.
