The Disappearing

by Jennifer Torres

  “Luke, what the . . . ?”

  “That stranger . . . ,” Luke gasped, trying to catch his breath. “The one we both saw.”

  “Yeah? What about him?”

  “He’s after me!”

  Chapter 7

  Followed

  Luke rushed past Tim and hurried inside the house.

  “Come on! He’s out there!”

  Tim jumped up and took a long look into the darkness.

  Nothing moved. It was silent. And then . . . he saw something, just behind a tree, a shadow.

  Yellow hair.

  Tim was so startled he nearly knocked a planter over in his hurry to get inside.

  Both boys ran until they were at the top of the stairs.

  “What’s going on?” Tim’s mom called out.

  “Mom, he’s out there, the stranger I told the police about!”

  “He followed . . .”

  Before the words had left his mouth, Tim’s dad had grabbed a bat and was outside.

  After running up and down the street a few times, it was clear whoever had been out there was now gone.

  He came racing back inside.

  “Call the police.”

  When the authorities arrived, they spent over an hour searching the area and questioning Luke about the incident. But whoever had been out there was definitely long gone now.

  “I left my house later than I meant to,” he explained to his interrogator. “My dad told me to get here before dark, and I guess I just lost track of time.”

  Because Rusty had been called out of town on some last-minute business, arrangements had been made earlier that morning for Luke to spend the night at Tim’s.

  “I heard a noise behind me—footsteps—so I turned around and no one was there, but then I saw it.”

  “You saw what exactly?” asked the officer with just a hint of impatience.

  “A man with yellow hair,” he said, his voice shaking. “He was just standing behind a tree . . . watching me.”

  “Did he threaten you or say anything to you?”

  “I didn’t hang around to find out if he would. I just ran.”

  After the police left, Tim and Luke retreated to the bedroom, but sleep wasn’t easy to come by. So they whispered in the darkness about all the strange events going on in Briny Deep.

  At some point, Tim remembered a question he’d been meaning to ask Luke all day. With all the excitement, it had slipped his mind.

  “Hey, bro, the other night when we were playing hide and seek in your house, I found a photo of your parents . . . with another kid. Who is that?”

  Luke turned pale.

  “You found a photo of him?” he whispered. “I thought they had gotten rid of all the photos.”

  Tim stared at his friend, not wanting to push too much. This was clearly not a good memory for him.

  “That was my brother,” Luke said, his head hanging down. “He died when I was still pretty young, just before my mom.”

  Tim’s eyes opened wide with amazement.

  How did he not know this?

  Why had no one ever mentioned it?

  He sensed that Luke was getting upset. And with all the drama he’d already suffered earlier, Tim figured it was best to change the topic. But he did make a mental note to talk to him more about it later, once everything else had calmed down.

  By three o’clock in the morning, the boys had exhausted themselves talking about the man with the yellow hair, the missing kids, and the people they thought were strange in town.

  The next day, school whizzed by. Armed security guards were situated at every entry and exit. All everyone talked about were the missing kids. Some kids weren’t in school because their parents had decided it was too dangerous to let them out of their sight, so there were a lot less bodies walking the halls.

  After school, Luke headed back home to pick up another change of clothes because his dad had been detained out of town another night. Tim and Max had offered to go with him, but in the light of day, any kind of fear Luke had about the stranger was gone. So instead, the two boys made a stop at Emily’s house to check on her. Nina was already there, trying very hard to offer her some comfort.

  The mood in the house was solemn. Tim and Max each took a seat but weren’t sure what to say.

  “I heard you saw him,” a stern voice called from the stairs.

  It was Emily’s dad.

  He was a big, imposing man. Not one for small talk and certainly not the kind to be crossed, thought Tim.

  “The stranger, you saw him . . . and Luke . . . Luke saw him, too,” he continued, sounding almost accusatory. “Well, am I right?”

  Now he sounded angry.

  “Only for a minute, sir,” Tim said softly. “And I think the same guy followed Luke the other night.”

  From somewhere behind Emily’s dad, another voice joined in the conversation.

  “We have no indication there was ever a stranger,” said a cold, harsh voice.

  The man who had just spoken appeared from the shadows and approached Tim.

  “Young man, you and your friend Luke are the only people who claim to have seen this stranger with the yellow hair.”

  As he spoke, the man used two fingers to put air quotes around the word “seen.”

  “No one else in town has seen him, why do you think that is?”

  Tim shrugged and looked down at his feet.

  “Eva’s parents said she had seen him, too,” he said.

  This man looked hard at Tim and shook his head.

  “We think it was likely someone else—someone she knew.”

  It was then that Tim noticed the badge. He was with the police; one of the same guys that had been on the beach a few days ago.

  “You mean someone from town?” Tim stammered.

  “Yes,” he answered. “Maybe even someone you know.”

  “Someone I know?”

  After eyeing Tim for a few more moments, the officer turned to Emily’s father and the two disappeared into the den together.

  Following a bit more small talk with his friends, Tim said an awkward good-bye to the group and made the short walk up the street to his house, looking nervously behind him only once . . . maybe twice.

  Chapter 8

  Where Is Luke?

  When he reached the steps of his house, Tim noticed that Luke’s bike wasn’t out front. He’d made a big deal out of telling his dad on the phone that he would ride his bike over right after he grabbed an outfit from home. Since it wasn’t there that meant neither was Luke.

  Tim grabbed the skateboard he’d left upside down in the front yard and headed down the hill to Luke’s house. Dusk was falling and even though the sun was still up, it wouldn’t be for long. It made him chuckle a little to imagine Luke’s face once he realized he lost track of time again and it was getting dark.

  Besides, he couldn’t wait to tell Luke about the angry guy and his insinuation that they simply hadn’t seen what they claimed. Like he thought they imagined it, or worse, made it up.

  He glided down the path leading to Luke’s front door. When he got to the end, he jumped off the board and jogged up the front steps.

  Tim knocked—once, twice.

  No answer.

  He peered in the window. Nothing moved.

  He reached for the door and turned the knob. The door creaked open, and Tim walked inside.

  The house was silent. He walked in a little farther and called out.

  “Luke?”

  No response.

  He started to head across the house to the stairs but stopped before reaching them.

  Something felt weird . . . almost like he was being watched. He didn’t like it.

  For a moment he was frozen in the same spot, unsure whether to move forw
ard or go back.

  He listened for any sound—almost afraid to hear one.

  Why did he feel so uneasy? This was practically his second home.

  He was just being silly. Luke was probably waiting for him at his house right now.

  He turned and walked quickly toward the front door. In his mind, he envisioned a hand falling hard on his shoulder, grabbing him back into the house.

  It seemed to take twice as long to make his way back. When he finally reached the door, he was moving so fast that his heart was pounding and his breathing was labored. But he didn’t take even a second to catch his breath.

  He hopped right on his board and headed home.

  As he approached his house, he noticed his mom was outside. The sun was just about to set. It would be dark within minutes.

  “Where is Luke?” she asked when he was closer.

  Tim suddenly felt very cold.

  “He’s not here?”

  She slowly shook her head and her eyes grew wide.

  •••••

  The man pursuing him is close; he can hear twigs snap under heavy feet, pounding into the grass just behind him. Ahead, a patch of flowers and a yellow house, if he can just get there, but then he remembers he won’t make it.

  He never does.

  The rock, hidden in the grass, is steps away. Tim trips, landing on his knees, a strong hand grips his shoulder, pulling him away again.

  When Tim opened his eyes, he was covered in sweat.

  His heart was racing as it usually did after the nightmare. As the fog of sleep faded away and he became more alert to the sun shining in his face, a sharp pain ripped through his stomach, as the painful memory that sleep had subdued came back full force.

  Four kids were missing: Eva, Anthony, Isabelle, and now Luke.

  In the days following Luke’s disappearance, the town of Briny Deep was thrown into an all-out state of emergency.

  As far as anyone in town knew, there was no sign of any of them. They had simply—vanished.

  It had been decided that schools would be closed, in addition to every road in and out of Briny Deep.

  Curfew had been extended to all day. With the exception of adults going to work and getting supplies like food, gas, and other necessities, no one was allowed off their own property.

  Children were to stay indoors at all times. No exceptions. At least one adult was required to remain home in order to watch over the kids and make sure this rule was followed without fail.

  Tim groaned in pain, though not the physical kind. He sat up, threw his legs over the side of his bed, and hunched over with his elbows on his knees and his hands covering his eyes. He was so caught up in a mix of anguish and confusion that he hadn’t heard his mother enter the room. She sat down next to him and extended an arm around her son’s back.

  “I’m just so glad that you are safe,” she said softly in his ear.

  It was of no comfort to Tim.

  Something was very wrong in Briny Deep and he was going to find out what.

  If the authorities couldn’t find his friends—then he would.

  Chapter 9

  Strangers Among Us

  The four met in secrecy.

  They had to be so careful now. The town was crawling with authorities.

  It had been a highly successful trip, but there was one more thing they needed to do, one more thing that must be done before they returned home.

  Home . . . ?

  The man with the yellow hair thought about the word for a while.

  He was ready to go home. But his job was not yet complete. Their job was not complete.

  He looked around the room at his partners; a motley crew of mercenaries. Like most in their profession, instead of using real names, they each had a nickname.

  First, there was “Lone Star,” who chose hers for being born and bred in Texas. Then “Blaze” for his red hair. Another called himself “Mud Puppy,” a name earned in the Army. And finally there was “Canary,” for his blond hair.

  Under the circumstances, the names were too long to actually use, so they went by the initials L. S., B., M. P., and C.

  The house where they stayed was off the grid.

  Way off.

  No one would suspect where it was, or even bother looking in the area. It was a perfect hideout. Hidden in the forest, and bathed in large, old trees, the outside of the large two-story wood cabin blended in flawlessly with its surroundings.

  But he was anxious to get this whole thing over with. He was ready to move on.

  “Okay, let’s get started,” Canary called to the group. “We all know what the objective is now, but the question is how do we achieve it? The town is on complete lockdown.”

  It’s not as if they hadn’t anticipated this. They had. A major reaction is appropriate when four kids go missing.

  But what they didn’t count on was a group of kids who didn’t follow the rules. They were definitely becoming a problem. Moving around unseen was getting increasingly difficult, and they were not ready to leave . . . not yet.

  “We just continue with the plan and we don’t deviate from it,” M. P. cautioned.

  L. S. stood up from a large leather chair and walked right up to him, getting close enough to look him right in the eyes.

  “I say leave with what you got now,” she snarled. “Those kids are nothing but trouble, and if you stick around, you’ll find that out.”

  “We are under strict orders,” B. fired back. “You know that.”

  L. S. grunted and turned her back to him and faced Canary.

  “You know what could happen,” she said. “Do you really want to risk it?”

  Canary knew exactly what could happen, but he had no choice. They had to see this mission through to the end. No matter what the risk.

  Taking Eva had been almost too easy.

  She constantly bickered with her parents and made a habit of storming out of the house. Her favorite place to go and cool off from an argument was the forest—she practically delivered herself right to their front doorstep. Eva hadn’t been scared at first. Certainly she never thought someone would try and kidnap her. Not in this safe haven where crime of any kind was practically a nonissue. But once she realized what was happening, she had cried and called out for help. But there was no one to hear her.

  Likewise, Anthony had been a relative walk in the park to take.

  B. had handled that one. He moved among them with ease. No one thought anything was out of order until it was too late. A game of hide and seek was the ideal moment to nab him. And it didn’t hurt that Anthony knew and trusted B. He fell right into the trap.

  Isabelle was a little trickier. Being younger and under the watchful eye of her overbearing, militant parents had made finding the right moment to take her difficult.

  L. S. had played that one perfectly, being a female. What little girl would think she was one of the “kidnappers?” Usually brutish and hard, L. S. managed to find her softer side long enough to convince Isabelle to help her find a lost puppy, which of course she happily agreed to do. Yeah, Isabelle never suspected a thing.

  Certainly, the most difficult acquisition was Luke.

  He was already big for his age, standing nearly six feet tall, athletic, and muscular. They knew he was not going to be easy. Especially when B. had to attend to other important business on the same night they planned to take him.

  And then there was the fact that Canary had been careless. Outside of Luke’s house, both Luke and Tim had seen him. But it wasn’t a problem because no one believed them. Canary had made sure of that.

  They had seen him again outside Tim’s house. So when Canary finally did come face to face with Luke, you can bet he was terrified. Come to think of it, he had screamed, but it didn’t matter because no one could hear anything that went on i
nside that big house of his.

  They were home free with one exception.

  Tim.

  He was the last one they needed.

  Chapter 10

  A Time for Heroes

  The four met in secrecy.

  They had to be so careful now. The town was crawling with authorities.

  Tim, Nina, Max, and Emily were going against everything their parents and the police had told them to do. Kids were not allowed off their own property. The town was shut down like a clogged drain—nothing getting in or out—except perhaps four clever kids.

  Tim had told his mom that he was going to sleep early. His parents bought it because he’d been so depressed lately. All he’d been doing was lying in bed, except he hadn’t been asleep. He’d been thinking and planning and plotting a way to find his friends.

  He realized that if the authorities really thought he and Luke had made up the story about the stranger that meant the police were not looking for him. So Tim had to find him, before it was too late.

  Since they couldn’t see each other in person over the last few days, Tim and his friends had been burning up the phone lines to stay in touch. They decided to formulate a plan to rescue their friends.

  Max had snuck over a couple times to strategize in person. But when his mom realized he had left, she threw such a fit that both Tim and Max would have certainly been grounded for a month, had they not already been relegated to their house 24/7.

  But on this night, the four of them made the same excuse of being tired and headed to their bedrooms, then right out their windows.

  Tim and Max met up at a local park and then rode their boards over to get Emily and then Nina. They didn’t want the girls out on their own.

  Leaving the skateboards hidden in a bush outside Nina’s house, the group silently jogged through the back paths and across the shortcuts in Briny Deep. They stayed off the main roads and away from the watchful eye of authorities.

  They made their way behind the school and down the hill to Luke’s house.