Englishman I have for an uncle. “Come here.”
I jogged forward and wrapped my arms around him. It felt so good to see him. With everything
else going crazy, I felt normal once again. Drew was the only person who made me feel like a
little girl.
I didn’t know when they started but tears welled up in my eyes now. They started falling and it
kind of annoyed me since they made me look weak.
Drew pul ed away and wiped them. “No need to cry now, you’re safe.”
I cringed at the word. Safe? When will we be ever safe? They found us in school, they found our house. And now this. Anthony thought it was safe in Carley’s only to find out that she herself
was a member of the syndicate. It’s kind of funny to think that we willingly led ourselves to the
predator.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Anthony join us. “How’d you find us?”
“I saw Zed earlier at the mall. Since you said that you were staying at Carley’s place, I thought I could ask him about how you two are doing. But with the way he’s been acting, I got a hunch
that there’s something going on.”
“What do you mean? How was he acting?”
“Strange?” I heard Anthony supply.
Drew shrugged. “I could say that. He looked nervous and he’s been fidgeting on his phone. A
moment later, I saw two suspicious-looking guys come up to him. From then on, I assumed that
something was wrong.”
“Wait, that was earlier today, right? Why hadn’t you come to find us? Why try to locate us just
now?” I tried to hide the impatience in my tone. But what took him so long? If he real y had the
hunch, why wait until night?
“Because I tried to contact Lea. But I couldn’t reach her. And Jonathan. I tried to find him
everywhere, until before I went here, but I couldn’t find him.”
“How did you know we were here?”
“I had someone follow Zed.” Drew motioned to the guy to his right, who returned a bit smug
smile. “But I told him not to make any move until I get back.”
I processed his words. Where was Mom? Jonathan? Calming myself down, I silently convinced
myself that Mom was just caught up with whatever it is that’s been keeping her busy for the past
months. As for Jonathan… Maybe he’s stuck with Kristine again.
I was about to verbalize my thoughts when suddenly the man standing behind Drew dashed
forward, giving Drew, Anthony, me and the smug-smiling unknown guy an unexpected, very
rough shove. A second later, the guy shut the door close and took the flashlights. He
immediately turned them off.
“What’s happening?” Drew whispered. Only then did I notice that he had his hand on mine.
“I heard sounds from the outside. And I think they’re approaching.”
My stomach twisted. So much for safety.
I unconsciously gripped Drew’s hand in fear. We’re so doomed.
He squeezed it back, trying to calm me with the simple gesture. All five of us were stuck in
complete darkness, standing very silently, careful not to make any noise, even the sounds of
our very breaths.
What now? If we would grope our way toward the backdoor, there’s a big chance that one of us
might make unnecessary noise. That was the last thing we want to happen. If we’d wait here
until they’re gone, there’s stil a chance that they would stay outside until morning or until God
knows when. Staying here is less likely an option.
My eyes suddenly widened as Drew let go of my hand. I tried to grasp for it again but he was
gone. He was somewhere in the room I can’t seem to locate in the darkness. Unlike earlier, my
eyes have not adjusted to the darkness that I could not make out even a single thing.
“Drew?” I whispered.
“Shhh!” Two voices answered back, obviously from the two unfamiliar people in the room.
I mouthed a “Sorry,” which was obviously not seen in this darkness. My responses become
inappropriate under this kind of pressure.
There was a sudden flash of light in the middle of the room, giving me a start. It was one of the
unknown guys. Just as abrupt as the light started, it was gone by the next millisecond. With a
fraction of a second of illumination, he was able to tell us that we should near him. I noticed then that Drew was by his side.
When I reached them, someone grabbed my wrist, making me jerk at the sudden touch. “It’s
me.” I heard Anthony’s voice.
I could hear the movements of the other people in the room. I was praying that the people
outside did not see the sudden illumination. It was one risk that we should take if we want to get
out of here fast and alive. Now that we were moving, I was hoping against hope that they were
not yet within earshot, or they’l realize that there were people inside.
After a few steps forward, I realized that we were by the backdoor already. After exactly three
seconds, not that I was counting, one my companions opened the door and one by one they
bolted outside, closing the door behind them as they went. After the first two, a third one
followed, which meant that that was Drew since Anthony was still grasping my wrist.
“Ready? We’l go together.” He whispered.
“Okay.” I whispered back and gave his hand a squeeze.
“Go!”
We opened the door and dashed outside. I did not exactly know where to go, but I was
pleasantly surprised to see a car waiting for us outside, door opened to our side, with Drew
holding the door open, ready to close it once we were inside.
That sprint seemed like the longest in my life. And once we were inside, I let out the long breath
I did not notice I was holding in.
Chapter 29
“Drei!”
I turned and saw a familiar blonde from our neighborhood. He wasn’t that ugly, but there was an
air of uneasy confidence in him that I just couldn’t tolerate. When he’s around, he acts as if
everyone is attracted to him. And since I belong to that everyone, he puts up that act when I’m around too.
I
