Nathan

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Her footsteps stopped somewhere in the distance, she cried out, followed by the sound of dragging. Muffled movements. Silence.

The pain that had radiated out from his back had subsided, but his limbs were numb. The voltage had been set high. He breathed in sharply, crouching on the floor, palms against the tile. He resisted the urge to vomit, swallowing back bile to keep himself together. He’d been zapped hard before, but this was rough.

He glared through blurred eyes toward where Sang had disappeared. He crawled in that direction. After a few steps, he picked himself up, regaining feeling and movement again.

“Sang!” he shouted into the darkness.

No response.

Did she get away? Where was she?

He jogged out toward where he was sure the back staircase was. He paused at the top, turning around, looking into the dark back at the maze of hallways on the upper floors.

There was no way to tell which way she went. When Volto didn't stay for him, Nathan was sure he was after her.

Or he already had her.

Which direction they'd gone in, he couldn't tell.

He listened in the dark, waiting, but he couldn't wait. She was around here somewhere. Close, too. He couldn't have gotten far with her.

He needed the others. Maybe even the police.

Damn her status. Damn her parents if they could find out about this. She was gone. And he needed the others to help find her.

He took the stairs. Slow. Too slow, but his knees were wobbly. If he crashed, if he fell, he was the only one who knew she was gone. Volto would be long gone if that happened.

He forced his muscles to work, straining himself to keep upright and using the handrail.

Once he was on the ground floor, he ran toward the cafeteria and went through a door that allowed him into the back kitchen area.

The lights on in this part of the school suddenly blinded him. He covered his eyes for a moment, looking in.

Wait. The lights were on here?

He jogged past the ovens to where he left Victor.

The laptop was still there. Victor was gone. The fridge door was closed.

Where were they?

He looked around, listened. They weren’t in here.

He ran to the two double doors, waiting only a moment, readying himself for police who were possibly on the other side. They may be dealing with them.

He had to go out there. For her. Who knew what he’d do to her? Volto could try to put her in the lake, like he did to him. Or worse.

He pushed his body against the door, opening it slow, ready for anything.

The air changed into something more humid and thick. He hadn’t realized how dry his throat had gotten.

Mr. Blackbourne stood near the back of the truck that had backed up. He was monitoring.

Victor stood beside him, speaking. “You know she's going to get after you if I let you stay up.”

“This has to get done,” Mr. Blackbourne said. “I trust you, but it's better if I stay nearby. Just in case.”

Nathan stumbled out, looking around wildly. “Where are they?” Only he realized after he spoke that the police weren't here at all. Were they on the other side?

Did they just go past the school and not stop?

Mr. Blackbourne and Victor turned to him. The guys loading the truck stopped what they were doing.

“What's wrong?” Mr. Blackbourne asked. “Why are you back—”

“Volto's here,” he said, huffing. “He's got her.”

Mr. Blackbourne turned fully, an angry, powerful look surfacing. “Where?”

“He's here somewhere. He's got the building locked up on the other side. We went upstairs to go around. I heard sirens... I thought the police were here. He stunned me.” He swallowed thickly and coughed. “He took her.”

The guys near the truck, including Uncle, came closer.

Mr. Blackbourne motioned to them. “Surround the building,” he told them. “Man each exit. Make sure no one can get out of here without going by you. Get anyone within a mile radius here right now.” He looked at Victor. “Go get Luke. See if you can find out what happened to the lights and get them on. I want them working immediately.”

“On it,” Victor said, and he started running.

“Don't get separated!” he shouted after him and he turned to Nathan, motioning him back into the cafeteria. “You're with me. Take me to where you last saw her.”

“We need lights. It's dark up there.”

“Where's your phone?”

“Something's wrong with it. I think he did something to the signal or something. I didn't trust it.”

Mr. Blackbourne reached into his pocket, taking out his own phone. He examined the screen. “It seems normal.” He flipped on the flashlight app, making the white light glow bright in Nathan's face. He reached into his pocket, producing a small flashlight he kept on his key chain and passed it to him. “Hang on to this.”

Nathan kept the keys with him, and they proceeded out of the kitchen area, opening up into the dark hallway on the other side.

“I didn't want to leave her,” Nathan said breathlessly as the doors closed behind them and they were cast into darkness except for the lights they held.

“You did it right,” Mr. Blackbourne said, motioning to Nathan to lead the way. “We need to stay together. Tell me what happened on the way.”

Nathan started with telling him about what happened downstairs, how they discovered the doors locked, the masks, and then going upstairs. “The sirens. I was pretty sure the police were here. I was trying to hide her.”

“There were no police. He may have just waited for you to go somewhere dark so you couldn't see him coming,” he said. “But I would have done it, too. If he's alone, it would have been his best chance to take you down without a fight.”

They had reached the stairs by then, and at the top, Nathan shined the line outward, casting a beam along the hallway. He directed it to the one they'd been in. “We were here. I got zapped in the middle. She ran this way toward the stairs. But I can't tell where she went after that.”

Mr. Blackbourne switched his beam of light from one hallway to the next. “He could have her anywhere. A closet or went to the front of the building. We'll have to do a sweep.” He held his phone to his face, pushing a button. “We need to stay in contact.”

He said nothing else but waited, looking at his phone. He put the call on speaker as it dialed, but the answer was within one ring.

“At the front entrance,” North said instantly. “I don't see anyone.”

“Stay there,” Mr. Blackbourne said. “When anyone comes in, send them to do a sweep of the bottom floors. I want every possible place he could have taken her search.”

“What if he left with her already?”

“With Luke in the parking lot, and us in the back lot, unless he carried her out the back and through the woods, he's still here.” He paused. “Have someone check those woods. The way you came in the other night.”

“On it.”

Nathan swung the light around, looking through the hallways. So many classrooms and nooks. He could have her anywhere.

Hopefully he hadn’t left. She had nothing on her to track her this time after she turned her phone off. She may be impossible to find.

He’d blame himself forever if she disappeared after tonight.