“But why would she care? She’s just a nurse?”
He looked at me, raising an eyebrow. “You really don’t know?”
I was getting ready to reply no, but there was a rapping at the door that startled me. His face fell, and he trudged to the back corner.
“Everything okay?” It was Roxy’s voice.
“Fine,” I murmured, looking at Jack desperately.
“Just be careful. Get out, girl. Save yourself,” he whispered through hissed teeth, his face turning red with anger and pain and frustration.
“But—”
“Get out!” he shrieked at the top of his voice, pounding his fist. I jumped and then scurried to the door.
“Shit, what’s up with Jack?” Roxy asked. “He’s been quiet as of late. Withdrawn even.”
“He was just mumbling about his wife and son,” I said, painting on a look of solemn introspection.
“Poor guy. So sad how a few tragedies can line up and just drive you mad, huh?”
“Yes,” I replied. Roxy studied me, raising her chin a bit.
“Good thing I didn’t go on break yet,” Roxy added. “Who knows what could’ve happened. You’ve got to be careful, newbie. They seem harmless, but I’m telling you, you can’t get complacent around here. There’s always danger lurking.”
“I’m starting to understand that,” I replied with skeptical eyes.
My head was spinning with so many mysteries.
One at a time, I told myself as I headed to the desk. You can’t save everyone.
In fact, I couldn’t even save anyone, it seemed. Not even myself, apparently. I went home that night, 5B’s drawing in my hand and Jack’s words swirling in my mind. Yet again in my life, I felt complete and utterly doomed.
Chapter Twenty-Four
I clutched the new drawing to add to my collection. Pink flames leaped at the boy’s feet, the combover he had making him look eerily older. There was a large ‘O’ for the mouth, and his fingers seemed to be dripping. The surroundings were nothing but grass, no trees in sight. I shook my head. What could I make from it?
I grabbed my computer, feeling antsy and tired. The former janitor’s words rolled in my head. Maybe he was right. I should just get away. But looking at the children in the drawings, I knew I couldn’t. I couldn’t just up and leave.
Why not? I had before. And this wasn’t on me. It wasn’t my job. Still, a piece of me knew I was too absorbed in it all to go. Redwood’s claws had sunk into me in the form of 5B’s secrets and the children who now haunted me.
Missing Children Oakwood.
I typed in the search words and scanned results on my laptop, hoping for a miracle. I widened my search to the town over, and then the town over from that. I combed through pages of faces, the most recent from eight years ago. I looked at the children, wondering how I’d ever figure out which ones belonged to 5B.
A tapping at the window made me avert my eyes from the screen after what seemed like senseless scrolling. I felt lulled by the security that it was a tree branch or the wind or the ancient house settling. Or perhaps one of the neighbors; I’d seen a car out front for the first time in I didn’t even know how long.
But then the tapping grew louder. For a split second, bile rose in my throat. Had I summoned them back with my searching? I took a breath and slowly turned to the window across the room, terrified of what would be there.
Nothing. Emptiness. The tapping stopped. I breathed a sigh of relief, turning back to face the pages of internet searches once more. But when I turned back to the front, my peripherals caught a hint of something. I moved my head a centimeter and that’s when I saw him.
I wasn’t sure it was a him, though. The only clue I had was that his pink aura matched the pink crayon. He was a glob of skin oozing in the corner, only the basic outline of his body palpable. His skin seeped and bubbled, pink with tinges of black ash. I felt a searing heat as he approached, as if I’d sat too close at the hibachi grill when the fire ignited. I scooched my chair back, my eyes closing as the invisible inferno blazed before me.
I noticed my computer screen scrolling wildly, stopping on an article from a place three towns over called Rockville. It was an article about the missing children of Rockville. I shook, but courage incited me to turn to the being to ask a question.
He was gone. I breathed in, relieved and shocked all at once.
It was a start, but a shaky one at that. I knew more than ever that what 5B had done was atrocious. I knew somewhere out there a family was looking for this little boy. There were more families like his. I owed it to them. I owed it to her. I owed it to the universe to try and find out more. I would tackle 5B’s four.
And then it would be time to tackle my own.
I turned my phone off and climbed into bed. The next day was my day off, and I wouldn’t have my phone on to be called in. I had somewhere to be. It was high time I took things to the next level.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Ifelt crazy, driving up the winding, dirt path toward the Ambridge farm. It was a sunny day, but inside, a storm brewed of confusion and terror. What the hell did I think I could accomplish, and what if the family didn’t even talk to me? I thought of Emily Landing’s story about Anthony Ambridge. The family had been through enough. They were probably accustomed to annoying reporters and nosy citizens asking too many questions. Still, it was one of
