He wished his dad was home. Horrible things could happen when he was away from home. Just like it happened before.
He tried to shake those thoughts out of his head. “I was worried about you, you know,” he said to Shadow as they walked. She looked up at him, her tongue lolling out of her mouth as she happily pranced alongside him. “But I’m not gonna let anything bad happen to you.” He crouched down and took his dog’s head in his hands, looking into her deep brown eyes. “I’d never leave you on your own—you know that, right?”
Shadow licked his unexpectedly close face and threw her front paws up on his shoulders, knocking him down once again.
“Good enough,” Alex said, picking himself up and uselessly dusting off his soaked pants once again. He still couldn’t shake the worry of being all alone.
The feeling followed him the whole way home.
As soon as he got there, he went straight upstairs, not even bothering to close the door, peeling off his soaked sweater and pants that clung coldly to him. When he came back down in dry clothes, he noticed several things. First, the house was a mess—papers and mail that had been by the door, now strewn about the floor; pantry door in the kitchen wide open with cans spread out on the floor below it. None of it had been like that when he left.
He also looked at the door—the one he had just entered—and realized that the key for it was still upstairs in his soaked pants pocket; he had never taken it out. He was certain he had locked it before he left. Next, as a chill crept through him while staring out the mysteriously unlocked door, he noticed that the street was almost devoid of cars. Few parked, none driving. No people either.
He slowly closed the door, worried that if he moved too quickly it would trigger something or someone to jump out of their hiding spot. He went to the kitchen to close the pantry door. Then he noticed one last thing: a note, hastily written in his father’s handwriting: Alex - Stay Home!
Crap. He was caught. His previous unease at his unexplained surroundings was replaced by guilt.
He stood, staring at the note with only one thought on his mind: how can I get out of this? Was the fact that he was just out to make sure their beloved family dog was safe a good enough excuse? The fact that it was his dad’s fault that she had gotten loose would certainly help. And the Wattses could verify what happened: dog got away, Alex went after her, and came back with her in tow. It was downright responsible of him.
He knew he had to call his dad right away—no sense in hiding. Despite his confidence in the situation, he couldn’t dismiss the feeling of uncertainty. The sense of chaos inside his house and the feeling of abandonment outside. He tried to regain some of his assuredness as he dialled the number that his father had left for his new office.
No answer. No answering machine, either. Just ringing.
That must be good for business, he thought as he hung up. Maybe they were out for lunch—that would explain why his dad had come home. At least now he had some time to think about what he would tell his dad when he tried again.
But then the phone rang.
He let it ring a few times as he thought over what he would say. But the more it rang, the angrier his dad would be on the other end. He knew it was his dad. It had an angry dad ring.
“Hello?” he said cautiously.
“Alex?”
He paused. Maybe he could try acting casual. “Hey, Dad. What’s—”
“Where were you before? I told you not to leave the house!”
“I’m sorry, Dad. I—”
“I waited there for almost an hour!” his dad shouted, not hearing any of his excuses. “I had to leave Mary here with the sitter!”
“Dad, it’s—”
“They had to drag me out of there!” He wasn’t finished just yet. “They almost cuffed me!”
“Shadow got—”
“Alex, stop. It doesn’t matter.” His father paused. “Is there anyone there with you?”
“No. Just Shadow.”
“Okay. Good. That’s good. Go lock the door.”
“Why?”
“Dammit, just go lock the door! Both doors!”
“Okay, jeez. Calm down.” He went to the front door, stepping over a pile of coats he hadn’t noticed earlier. Then he hurried back to the phone. “Dad, I know you told me to stay home. I’m—”
“Don’t let anyone in unless it’s me, okay?”
“Okay.” He thought of possible exceptions: Mary’s babysitter, a neighbour, one of his friends, the Wattses. “What about—”
“No one! Do not open the door until I get there. Do you understand me?”
“Yeah. Yeah, I got it.” Alex started to worry. Dad doesn’t sound angry as much as he sounds ... scared? In the pause, he could hear noise over the phone. A person yelling? Or talking through a megaphone? “Dad—where are you?”
“I’m at your school.” He paused. “Your old school.”
“Why are you—?”
“They evacuated the area. Why didn’t you wait when they announced it on TV?”
“I was watching mov—”
“It doesn’t matter, okay? It doesn’t matter. Just stay there. I’m coming to get you. Just … stay put. Please.”
“Okay,” Alex could hear the fear in his own voice now. “I will. Dad?”
“And don’t let anyone in until I get there. Do you understand how important that is?”
“Yes.” It was as much as Alex could do to not start crying.
“It’ll be all right. I’m coming to get you. Just wait, and I’ll be there.”
Alex wiped his eyes. “Thanks, Dad.”
He held on to the phone for a full minute after his father had hung up.
He was alone.
DAY 1 - THE AFTERNOON
NICOLE
The siblings sat—Nicole on the stage, David on the floor in front of her—watching the crowd and the events unfolding before them.
There was barely any room for people to move around. There were now nearing 1,500 people in the school that usually held under 300, and yet
