I went in but was stopped short by Max. His wet nose dove at my thigh, and he sniffed and jumped, excited.
No chance of sneaking in.
“Kota?” Erica’s voice called from the living room.
I entered, closing the door but leaving it open a crack. “It’s me,” I called out.
Erica was on the couch. The TV was off, but the lights were on. She sat up, holding a novel in one hand and brushed away her hair from her face with the other. “Sang? What are you doing up so late? Is Kota with you?”
“No,” I said and rolled off what Nathan told me to say before I could think about it. “He’ll be along. Nathan drove me over. We were...” I paused, unable to explain the cause and catching myself before I could come up with a lie about it. “Long story,” I said.
She didn’t seem upset by this and angled herself to look over my shoulder. “Is he coming in?”
“If that’s okay.”
“Sure it is,” she said. “Let him come in.”
I opened the door again, and Nathan was already on the steps.
“She’s up,” I told him.
Max wiggled out beside me to get a nose into Nathan’s thigh. Nathan petted him a few times. “Calm down,” he said. “It’s just me.”
Erica left the couch and dropped her book on it. She wore her USMC shirt, oversized with big yellow lettering, and pajama pants.
I hesitated. I sensed Nathan close behind me, and he stopped because I had. I don’t know why, but part of me was waiting for what I was sure was going to happen. Questions. Wondering why we were alone together like we were after what happened.
Erica looked over both of us and then directed her attention at me. “Everything okay?”
“We need to stay here tonight,” Nathan said behind me. “Is that okay? Kota and maybe someone else may be here soon.”
“Sure,” she said. “Don’t you have school? Why are you here so late?”
“Long story.”
“I’ve got time,” she said. She motioned to us, directing us to the couch. “Want to come talk about it?”
Before we could answer, there was a knock at the front door, hard enough to rattle it. It sparked new excitement in Max, but when he raced to the door, his excited bark turned into growling.
Our attention shifted. We stood, quiet. No one else knocked in our group. And whoever it was, the dog didn’t like it.
“What in the world...” Erica left us to go inspect.
Nathan nudged me aside and followed her. His stance changed, his shoulders rounding out. I stepped behind him. He went to the dog, tugging him back.
Erica checked the peephole and then frowned. She turned to me, waving to get my attention. She pointed at the hall where her and Jessica’s bedrooms were. She mouthed to me, go to Jessica.
Was it Mr. Morris?
How did she know to be concerned about him?
I went to the hallway, but I put myself at an angle where I could slip away down the hall like she asked. Nathan was still in my view, but not the front door.
The door opened. Erica spoke. “What’s going on? Who are you?”
“Sorry to disturb you,” Mr. Morris spoke, his voice grumbly like he was getting over a cold. “I’m Fredrick Morris. This is Mr. Hendricks. He’s the principal at...”
He was here? My heart raced. I debated going to Jessica, but froze, terrified to leave them alone or even reveal I was here.
Did they see me in the car?
“I know who he is,” Erica said. “Why are you here?”
“We’ve been sent to look for Sang Sorenson,” he continued. “We’re here to get her to go home.”
“You’re not taking her anywhere.” Nathan’s voice was loud enough to shake the walls. He disappeared from my view. “She’s staying with us.”
“I don’t know if you realize how much trouble you’re in,” Mr. Hendricks’s voice rose, demanding. “She hasn’t been home for weeks. Her parents have been looking for her. She needs to come with us.”
“If she needs to go home, I’ll take her,” Erica said.
“We’re here to make sure she—”
“No.” Erica’s voice rose now and there was creak like she was holding onto the door and possibly closing it. “She’ll stay with me. I’ll take her.”
“If you don’t let her come with us, we’ll have to call the police,” Mr. Morris said.
“Do it,” Nathan threatened.
“Call them,” Erica said. “In fact, I think I should. Nathan, go get my phone. We’ll straighten this out, but by my life, you’re not taking that girl out of here without me.”
“We don’t have time for this,” Mr. Hendricks said.
There was a scuffling at the door. I didn’t dare look out. With my heart in my throat, I stepped back, heading for Jessica’s room.
She was at her door, listening. She backed up when I opened it. “What’s going on?”
I kept my fingers to my lips, urging her to stay quiet. I closed the door behind me. We didn’t have much time if they were trying to barge in. “Where’s your phone?” I whispered, locking her door behind me.
She ran for her bed, dumped out the blankets and a phone plopped onto the floor. She scooped it up. “Who do I call?”
“Kota,” I said. “Call him. Tell him to...”
There was shouting in the living room. Nathan’s. Erica’s. Possibly Mr. Morris as well. Something large and wooden broke. The dog barked and then he yelped. Suddenly it was if he was outside, unable to get in and barking madly at the door.
They were in.
Erica cried out. “Nathan! Don’t you hurt him...”
“We didn’t want to do this,” Mr. Morris said.
“She’s probably in one of those rooms,” Mr. Hendricks said, sounding winded. “Go find her.”
I waved to Jessica and we retreated to her closet. She stepped in, I joined her. We sunk down together between shoes and coats in our way.
The glow of the phone illuminated her face, and she spoke into it in whispers. “Someone’s here,” she said, her voice shaking. “Sang’s here. They did something to Nathan.” She paused just as the door to her bedroom rattled hard. “They’re coming for us.”
I swallowed hard, reaching over to quiet her. Was there a chance he’d bypass this room and check the others? Maybe we could run...
The closet door flew open. Mr. Morris stood over us. He grabbed me by the shoulder, hauling me up. “Got her,” he said.
I kicked.
I screamed, but my voice cracked at the high pitch.
Jessica joined me, throwing herself at him and took bites at his calves.
Morris reeled back, kicking out at Jessica to get her away while holding on to me. “Get off of me!”
“Sang Sorenson!” Mr. Hendricks called out from the living room. “You’ve got three seconds to get out here before I make sure your boyfriend—”
There was a loud wail as Mr. Hendricks cried out. There was a struggle on their side, too.
Mr. Morris dragged me, and I fought him where I could. Jessica kept lunging at his legs, and reached for my arm, tugging me. “Let go of her!”
Mr. Morris shoved us both hard. Jessica fell to the floor. Morris held on to my arm, lifting. I was folded over, in the wrong position to flip him.
The lights around us suddenly went out. Completely. The dark was overwhelming.