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happened to him?”
    “I'm fine.” Joshua gave the best smile he muster, hugging
Adelaide. “How'd you get here?”
    Adelaide sighed glancing around the room, taking in her
surroundings. “Aidan said I was a stowaway.” She smiled up at me brightly. “I
snuck into the back with the supplies. I wanted to help.”
    I nodded. “And that you did. Who else is with you?”
    Adelaide grinned. “Aidan, Cate and Elsa. They're just
outside, trying to find a way in. Craynor is standing guard with a gun. He
threatened to kill you both if they came any closer. So I snuck in through the
vent.” She beamed proudly.
    “What about Henry, Gavin and Rane?” I hoped they were still
alive and well.
    Adelaide shrugged. “I don't know who they are. Oh! Aidan
said he found a girl alive, but hurt. He was trying to make her feel better.
Maybe it's your friend?” She tried to make sense of the information even though
they'd kept a lot from her.
    “You've done well,” I assured her. “Do they know where you
went?” I felt my heart constrict. Adelaide should not have been here. Craynor
would kill her if he found her.
    “Cate helped me into the vent,” Adelaide answered. “Can't we
climb out the same way?”
    I bent down, wrapping my arms around her. “I wish we could
but we're too big.” Hope disappeared as quickly as it came.
    “That's not what Cate told me,” Adelaide smirked. “She said
to tell you what's big can be little and what's little can be big.”
    “What does that mean?” I shot a glance at Joshua.
    He paused momentarily, thinking the puzzle over. “The vent.
I think we can make it bigger or somehow make ourselves smaller to fit through
it.”
    “You want me to shrink us?” I laughed. “You're crazy!”
    “Just consider it for a second, Olive,” he reasoned. “Children
grow into adults. Why can't we make ourselves a few years younger, smaller ,”
he emphasized.
    “I'm not turning us into five-year-olds.” I reiterated, “It's
not going to happen. Besides who's to say I can even do that!” This was more
than a long shot. It was impossible.
    “You have to try.” Adelaide's voice perked up. “Please,
Olivia.”
    I sighed. I couldn't say no to her. Besides, we needed a way
out. “You go first,” I insisted. In case I ended up destroying the vent or
Joshua and myself, I didn't want her to witness it.
    I kissed her cheek as she walked over towards Joshua. “We'll
see you soon.” He offered a smile though he struggled with the pain he felt. “Help
her back in the vent,” Josh insisted. I hugged her one last time and dropped
another kiss to her dirty cheek.
    “Be careful,” I told Adelaide as I eased her back into the
vent. I spent a few minutes trying to catch my breath, listening for the door,
nervous as hell. Walking back towards Joshua I examined his wounds and rested a
hand on his, depleting some of my energy, giving it to him.
    “What are you doing?” He tried to pull his hand back, but I
gripped it tighter.
    “You need enough energy to climb through the vent with me.
I'm not leaving you behind.”
    “Just a little.” The color slowly returned to his cheeks and
he took his other hand, prying my death grip from him. “That's enough.” He knew
we both needed enough strength to escape.
    “Okay.” My voice betrayed me as I offered a weak smile. I was
beyond nervous. I felt my body jolt awake at the sound of the latch on the
basement door. We were out of time. The grate lay at my feet as I gripped his
hand and focused on making us younger. It wasn't working.
    Smaller ! Joshua silently insisted. Do it now!
    “I'm trying!” I screamed watching with wide terror-filled
eyes as Craynor descended the stairs with a tray of food.
    “You two shouldn't be up and around.” Craynor's voice echoed
as he dropped the tray of food, prepared for a fight. Clearly he hadn't anticipated
us on our feet.
    Joshua was the first to act, jumping at Craynor, wrestling
him down onto the ground. Craynor was fast and