Darkness Falls Read online

  After quick hugs, we say our goodbyes and weave through the cats, now intently grooming themselves.

  Chapter 33

  We step into a world of browns and greens. Tree branches, leaves, lawn ornaments, and trash can contents litter the ground as far as I can see. Aidan tugs me along to the path behind the house that leads to the woods.

  Our trip today is much slower as we dodge downed trees. Everything feels so wrong. Maybe we were cocooned in Rose’s house for too long. It felt like things might actually be okay in the short time we stayed there. Now, it just feels like the world has changed once again and we’re struggling to keep up with it.

  After what feels like hours, but couldn’t possibly be, we reach the tree line that surrounds the trailer park. Reality slaps me across the face.

  As I take in the scene, my eyes swell with sorrow and my heart burns with rage. How do things just keep getting worse and worse? Haven’t I been through enough already?

  Lawn chairs are strewn about the pathways. Porch railings lie splintered. A few of the trailers closest to the woods bear the brunt of fallen trees, their roofs slouching under the weight.

  I stop in my tracks, raise both hands to my head and slowly turn from right to left, digesting the panoramic view. I can’t speak. I can’t express the emotions vying to escape my body. I feel battered, like one of the lawn ornaments destroyed during last night’s storm.

  Aidan snaps me out of my stupor. “Quinn,” he says softly as he places a hand on my shoulder. “Let’s keep going.” I barely know him, but, once again, I’m thankful he’s here. I waft between feeling like I couldn’t do this alone to knowing that this is my problem and no one else’s to deal with. I force myself to pick one foot up and place it in front of the other. I focus on taking one step at a time, following the gravelly path toward Aunt Grace’s trailer.

  The wooden steps have caved in on themselves. Aidan jumps up onto the porch and holds a hand out to help me up. Physically, I don’t need his help, but emotionally a feather could knock me down right now.

  I gratefully take his hand and let him pull me up. The trailer’s door dangles on only its top hinges. Aidan steps in front of me and pushes the door aside. “Riley? You here?” His voice reminds me that I have one too. I push past him into the trailer.

  “Riley!” I call. “Riley, we’re here. Where are you?” Aidan points to the bedroom Riley and I shared, “You check out that end and I’ll take the other end.” With that, we separate. My eyes scan the upturned end table and a floor lamp that lies sprawled across the living room. I step over fallen shelves and the old-fashioned trinkets that peered out from them for as long as I can remember.

  I push the bedroom door open as I half-heartedly plea, “Riley?” I stop mid-step when a shadow dashes across the room toward the window. “Riley?” I say again, but the shadow crouches. Riley wouldn’t try to hide from me. Which means whoever is in this room isn’t my sister.

  The first part of my body to wake from its temporary stupor is my vocal chords. A scream rips from my throat. I think Aidan calls my name, but I don’t answer. I just keep my eyes on the figure crouching by the window.

  Aidan brushes past me, following my gaze. “Hey there,” he says to the stranger calmly, both hands raised in front of him. “How about you come on out and we can introduce ourselves?”

  The stranger slowly rises, and I’m shocked to see that when he stands at full height, he doesn’t even reach my shoulders. A disheveled boy stands in the room with us. My frightened brain interpreted him to be a seven-foot-tall grim reaper. I stifle an inappropriate giggle. I imagine it would sound heinous, like a serial killer laughing at her own sick joke.

  “Hi, I’m Aidan and this is Quinn,” he says, motioning toward me. “Who are you?”

  The boy pushes shaggy blond hair out of his eyes. “I’m Chris,” he says quietly. “What are you doing here?” I step forward and answer him. “Um, technically my aunt owns this trailer, so I should really be asking you what you’re doing here.”

  “Oh,” he scratches his head and flashes us an innocent smile that has probably gotten him out of trouble in the past. “Well, I was just kind of hiding out.”

  Aidan takes a step toward him. The boy doesn’t flinch, but he also doesn’t make any move toward us. “Why don’t we go sit down on the couch and talk?” Aidan suggests. The boy nods and slowly emerges from his hiding place. He walks with the anticipation of a kid who was just called to the principal’s office.

  We parade down the hallway single-file and plop ourselves on the couch, Aidan and I face Chris. He relaxes into the couch and looks up at us. A smattering of freckles dots his nose and his green eyes exude innocence.

  “So, Chris,” Aidan starts. “Do you live around here?”

  “Yep,” he answers, shoving his hands into the pockets of his blue mesh shorts. He’s clearly not interested in elaborating.

  Aidan rubs his chin and tries again, “So you live in the trailer park?”

  “Nope,” Chris replies, chewing on the collar of his Washington Capitals T-shirt. Okay, this is gonna take all day at this rate and I want to get back to looking for my sister. I jump into the conversation. “Chris, what are you doing here? Aren’t your parents worried about you? Don’t you need to get home?”

  His posture stiffens at the mention of parents. “No one’s worried about me,” he says. “Look, I got stuff to do. I gotta go.” He rises and starts toward the door.

  “Alright then, nice meeting you,” I say, giving him a wave.

  Aidan jumps to his feet. “Chris, wait!” He shoots me a look, as if he can’t believe I was going to just watch the kid leave.

  I’m not sure what the big deal is. This kid is just wasting our time and we’ve got to keep looking for Riley.

  Chris stops in his tracks, turns back toward us and cocks his head to one side as if to say, “What do you want?”

  “Just give us five minutes, okay? Just five more minutes and then we’ll leave you alone,” Aidan pleads. Clearly annoyed, Chris releases a dramatic sigh and trudges back to the couch.

  Chapter 34

  While the boys chat, I search the trailer for anything that might come in handy. Their conversation sounds heated at one point, but I don’t pay much attention. I dig through kitchen drawers and retrieve steak knives, a lighter, and a small sewing kit. As I shove them into my backpack, Aidan wanders in. Running a hand through his tousled hair, apprehension weighs on his features.

  “What?” I ask. “Are you done with the kid yet? We should keep moving.”

  Aidan leans back against the counter and crosses his arms. “So, Chris wants to come with us.”

  “What?” I practically shriek. “Five minutes ago, he couldn’t get out of here fast enough. What the hell?”

  Aidan glances toward the living room and brings his pointer finger to his lips, silently telling me to shush. He takes three fast strides toward me and leans in close, whispering. “Quinn, I think his parents are…not good people.”

  Narrowing my eyes, I whisper back. “We can’t just take this kid with us. Even if his parents suck, which we don’t really know for sure. I have enough to worry about without adding kidnapping to my to-do list.”

  I start to turn back to the drawers, but Aidan grabs my elbow, holding me in place. “You didn’t hear the venom in his voice when he said he needed a place to go.” I’m still not convinced. When Aidan sees that I have nothing left to say, he adds, “Look, I think the bigger issue here is that if this kid is willing to just go off with people he met a few minutes ago, then he’ll go off with anyone. And the next person he asks might not be like us.”

  Realization dawns on me. No one in Aidan’s group would hurt Chris. Well, Jasmine might give him nightmares or tell him there’s no Santa Claus, but other than that, we are all good people. What if Chris stumbled upon a child predator? I cringe when I think about what could happen to him. And if he is willing to just tag along with strangers, what does that say about his home
life? Growing up, I never would have left my parents to willingly go off with strangers. Bitterness descends as I’m reminded that I have no choice when it comes to seeing my parents anymore.

  Thoughts zip through my head as Aidan stares at me intently. The last thing I need is one more person to worry about. I just want my family back. I know I can’t have my parents back but there’s still a chance I can find Riley. I don’t want this kid to suffer because we leave him behind, but I also don’t want him to get in the way of what I need to do.

  As Aidan and I stare at each other wordlessly, a small voice sounds from behind us. “Are you the ones who stole Jim’s bikes? Cuz he’s pretty mad about that.”

  Okay, that snapped my mind out of its haze. Aidan and I both turn to Chris, our mouths gaping open. “You know Jim?” I ask.

  He nods. “I know him, but I don’t like him,” he says, crossing his arms.

  “You and me both, kid.” I smile at this kindred spirit. Chris plants himself at the kitchen table and explains that he’s been coming to the trailer park for a few weeks, looking for something to do. When Jim noticed him hanging around, playing with some of the kids, he told Chris to take a hike.

  Chris didn’t listen, of course, he was just more careful about avoiding Jim. He started spending more and more time around the park, making an effort to keep an eye on Jim’s trailer, so he knew when Jim was or wasn’t home.

  Aidan and I listen raptly as Chris tells us about the time Dan caught Chris in the park after Jim made it clear that he wasn’t welcome. Apparently, Dan helped Chris sneak away before Jim saw him. I knew Dan wasn’t a bad guy. He’d be so much better off without his brother.

  I can’t bring myself to ask what is so bad about home that makes him want to leave. I’d give anything to be home right now, as long as Riley was with me. Before Chris can continue, I ask, “So, how old are you?” He doesn’t look old enough to be here right now, talking with a couple of strangers. Alone.

  “Ten,” Chris says defiantly. What? My eyes meet Aidan’s and I see the emotions I’m feeling flicker through his eyes: surprise, pity, sadness.

  “Chris,” Aidan starts. “Don’t you—”

  “I was here last night,” Chris says, knowing we’re once again hanging on his every word. “I heard Jim and Dan making plans, talking about some girl. I waited and watched.” He turns to me and points. “You know, she looked a lot like you.”

  All air deflates from my lungs and my body feels slack. I worry that my spiking heart will keep rising until it bursts. Aidan handles the news with a composure that I can’t muster.

  I listen mutely as Chris explains that he saw Jim and Dan last night, sitting around their fire pit drinking beer. Jim was complaining about some girls, saying he thought they were up to something. It had to be us. There’s no way any other female purposely spoke to Jim yesterday.

  “Wait,” Chris interjects, smirking at me. “Quinn. You’re the one he was talking about last night.” When I nod slowly, a snort escapes him. I’m guessing he’s recalling some choice words Jim must have had for me last night.

  “What’s so funny?” Aidan asks. Chris has the decency to keep his thoughts to himself. He just shakes his head and continues with his story.

  “So, I saw Jim and Dan drinking their beer,” Chris explains. “They do that a lot. I think they started to get bored because Jim said they should go for a ride.” Of course, he would think that drinking and driving is a good idea. Dumbass.

  Chris chuckles to himself at the next part. “When they couldn’t find their keys, Jim started yelling. They went inside, and I think they were smashing things.” He hunches his shoulders as if to say, “Oh well.”

  “I kinda got bored and went home.” At the realization that he mentioned home, he quickly picks up the pace of his story. “Anyway, I needed someplace to go, so I came back to the park. I thought I could watch Jim rage. But this time was different. When I peeked in their windows, a girl was with them.”

  Pausing for a moment, he points at me, saying, “She looked a lot like you.”

  “Oh, and their bikes were parked outside, so they found their keys,” he adds. “I hid in the bushes and watched. All three of them drove away.”

  I stare at Chris, dumbfounded. He saw my sister right after she was taken. I stare at him, waiting for him to say more but he doesn’t. Maybe that’s all he knows.

  “Chris, did they mention anything about where they were headed?” Aidan prompts. Chris rubs his forehead as if he’s willing his brain to remember. We both stare intently at him, waiting.

  “Umm, Jim said they were going on a long trip,” Chris says slowly. We both nod eagerly. “He said…he said something about landing.” I just fix my narrowed eyes on him, but Aidan tries to coax the information out of him.

  “Okay, landing. Did he say anything else before or after that word?” Aidan says calmly. I want to grab Chris by the shoulders and shake the information out of him.

  “Um, he said something about a base. A landing base. South. They had to go south to get there.” He smiles, pleased with himself.

  I’m not sure what he’s so proud of. He isn’t making much sense to me.

  Aidan must sense that this is going nowhere because he suggests that Chris go home to gather anything he might want to take with him. Chris looks wary, untrusting, but Aidan bends down to his level and holds his gaze. “Quinn and I are gonna take a look around the trailer to see if there’s anything else we need. We are not going to leave here without you. When you come back here, the three of us leave together. Okay?” Chris nods his head and turns on his heel, rushing out the door.

  With Chris gone, Aidan grasps my shoulders. “Quinn, you still in there?” I reward his effort with a small smile. “I think that kid’s telling the truth. Riley isn’t here. Let’s gather anything useful and head back to the campground. We’ll figure out a plan together.”

  “Are we leaving Chris behind?” I blurt out the first thought that pops into my mind. “No,” he answers sternly. “Of course not, I know it’s the last thing we need, but I’m not leaving him.” He ruffles a hand through his messy black hair. “I have no idea what we’re gonna do with him, but we can’t leave him here.”

  I’ve got no fight left in me. That kid has no reason to lie about seeing Jim, Dan, and Riley last night. Maybe one of the others can crack the code and figure out where my sister is.

  Chapter 35

  About an hour later, we’ve finished scavenging the trailer and even raided Dan and Jim’s shed for good measure. We load up two nylon shopping bags we found with our treasures: gardening snips, a pruner, work gloves, twine, and duct tape.

  Chris appears, out of breath, a camouflage backpack slung over his shoulder. Other than the small bulge resting at the bottom of the bag, it looks mostly empty. This kid is leaving home and he’s barely bringing anything with him? Maybe we are right to take him with us. Either he doesn’t have much to his name, or he doesn’t want to remember the life he’s leaving.

  “Hey there,” Aidan says, smiling at Chris. “Quinn and I found a few more things that could help us, and we’re just about ready to go. Are you ready to come meet our friends?”

  Chris nods, eyeing us warily, as if he still doesn’t believe we’re taking him with us. Oh well, he’ll see for himself soon enough. I just hope he can deal with Jasmine. We probably should have warned him about her before he decided to come with us.

  With one last look around the trailer park and the scattered remnants of homes, I turn my attention to the trek ahead. Once again, we’re on the highway, this time heading back to Rustic Shores Campground.

  “So, Chris—” Aidan starts.

  Chris cuts him off. “Tell me about your friends,” he says innocently, looking back and forth between us. Smart kid. I think he just wants to avoid answering any questions about himself.

  Aidan shoots me a look over Chris’ head but answers the kid, explaining that he and Jeff were friends since they were kids. They grew up togethe
r and spent the past year as college roommates. They met Jasmine and Wes in classes. Aidan finishes up by explaining that the guys decided to take a road trip, and Jasmine tagged along to get a ride home for the summer.

  When he finishes, Chris turns to me. “What about you? He didn’t say anything about you being with them.”

  I forgot how blunt kids can be. Guess I better get used to being around someone with no filter. Jasmine could use a better filter, but this kid seems to have none.

  Amused, Aidan raises his eyebrows, waiting for my response.

  “Well,” I start, “My family was driving down here from Pennsylvania for a vacation. There was a big accident and our car got pretty smashed up. My parents…they weren’t okay. But my sister and I made it out and we were together.” I pause for a moment, lost in the flood of memories that I’d really rather forget.

  Fire burns in my heart and venom laces my words. “That is, until that asshat Jim took her.” I brace for Chris to push for more details, but thankfully, he doesn’t. He latches on to our common enemy. We spend the next half hour sharing less-than-flattering stories about Jim. We erupt in laughter after each story, and the walk feels like a quick stroll.

  When we reach the campsite, we see Wes and Jasmine sitting by the flameless fire pit. Jeff is pacing in front of them, talking animatedly with his hands. When his eyes land on us, he stops mid-step and rubs his chin. As a grin spreads across his face, he calls out to us. “Well, it’s about damn time!”

  All three rush over. Jasmine and Wes wrap their arms around Aidan while Jeff pulls me in for a hug. Awkwardness surrounds us when Jeff moves on to Aidan. Wes shuffles over and gives me a half-embrace. Jasmine throws me a slight nod and zeroes in on Chris. “Who is this handsome fellow?” she asks enthusiastically.