by Wendy Knight
“It must suck to be a parent right now,” Tate said, picking up his controller.
****
It was after midnight. His parents had long since given up on them and gone to bed when someone pounded on the back door.
“What the —” Tate jumped, nearly fell of the couch, and was still trying to regain his balance when Liam shoved past him and jogged into the kitchen.
“Help! Please, we need help!”
Trey pushed himself off his stomach, following Liam with Tate on his heels. He could hear his parents moving around on the floor above his head.
More banging, and Liam flung the door open. “Mrs. Stuart! What’s wrong?”
“Lil Bit is missing. Scout says Lil Bit was sleeping with her, but when she woke up, Lil Bit was gone. She’s not in the house. We need help looking.” Mrs. Stuart had tears running down her ghost-white face.
Lil Bit.
Trey shoved his feet into his shoes and grabbed his jacket. “I’ll help look.” Tate and Liam followed behind, both shrugging on jackets.
“Lil Bit? Lil Bit, where are you?” He could hear Scout screaming, over and over, searching for her baby sister.
But there was no answering cry.
Chapter Four
“Lil Bit! Lil Bit, where are you?” Scout’s breath hitched in her throat as she ran. It had been so mild that week, but now the night was unusually cold for October, and it felt like the air froze in her lungs as she screamed for her little sister, while the panic froze her heart.
“The unicorns! Scout, find the unicorns!” Scout heard Lil Bit’s voice, small and terrified, but she couldn’t pinpoint where it was coming from. She ran in circles, wasting time, precious, precious time.
“Lil Bit!” she screamed.
“Scout, the monsters are coming! Can you see them? Scout. Find the unicorns! Please, Scout!”
Scout flew around a tree, frozen lungs forgotten, and nearly fell over Lil Bit where she lay curled on the forest floor.
But Lil Bit didn’t see Scout.
Lil Bit’s face was stiff in horror; her glassy eyes stared right through Scout’s soul. Her screams echoed through Scout’s head, until they abruptly stopped, and Lil Bit’s eyes closed. Scout fell to her knees next to her little sister, cradling her small head in her lap. “No, no, no, no.” Time froze, everything froze, and her heart shattered in her chest — so cold.
The unicorns are here. They’ll protect you, Lil Bit whispered, although her mouth didn’t move.
Scout scanned the trees, frantic. “Help!” she screamed, over and over, cracking the air around them.
Soul stealers. Were they still here? She searched desperately for the evil Lil Bit had been so afraid of, praying it was friends and neighbors she could hear crashing through the forest and not the nightmare that had just taken her sister.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw movement — just a flash. Scout whipped her head toward the shadow, but it was gone. “Unicorn?” She’d had only a brief glimpse, but it was seared into her brain: a gigantic black horse with a burning horn in the center of its head.
“Scout!” Trey landed on his knees next to her, wrapping his big arms around both of them.
Jerked out of her trance, Scout tried to choke back the sobs, but she failed miserably. “They took her, Trey! I couldn’t protect her!”
“Sh, it’s okay. The paramedics are on their way. She’s gonna be fine.” Trey rocked back and forth, cradling Scout and Lil Bit like they weighed nothing.
“It’s not going to be okay. She was so scared and I let her down and they took her!”
She could feel his arms shaking. He was as scared as she was, but when he spoke, his voice was calm. “Lil Bit is tough, Scout. She’ll make it back. She’ll be okay.”
If she didn’t know him better, she would think he was completely unaffected.
But he wasn’t.
****
“How did you not notice she left your bed?” The policeman asked, frowning. At least, Scout assumed he was frowning. It was hard to tell under the protective mask he wore, but his eyes certainly didn’t look happy with her at all.
She couldn’t stop shaking. “I had to take a pain killer for my back. It hurt. I shouldn’t have taken it. If I hadn’t…”
“If you hadn’t, you would have been awake and in pain and no good to anyone. Don’t blame yourself, Scout,” Trey interrupted. She forgot he still stood next to her. In fact, his entire family surrounded them. The hospital lights were blinding, and even though someone had brought her a warm blanket, she couldn’t get warm. She would never be warm again.
Trey slid his arms around her and she wanted to stiffen and push him away. She wanted to remind him how much she hated him, how much he had hurt her, but right now she needed him. She desperately needed his strength, because she didn’t have any. She laid her head against his chest.
“Is this normal? Did the other victims try to run away from this?” Brandon, Trey’s dad, said, standing at her left elbow. Scout closed her eyes and fought tears. She wasn’t running away. She was leading the monsters away from us.
“Veronica was the first to contract the disease inside our state lines. Actually, she was the first in the United States, as far as we know.”
“Yeah but—” Brandon started.
“Lil Bit. We call her Lil Bit. She hates Veronica.” Scout cut them both off.
Brandon paused, glancing uncertainly at her, before turning back to the cop. “But what about in Canada? Was it normal to try to outrun it? That doesn’t sound much like a disease to me. It sounds like…”
Like a monster, coming for your soul, Scout thought.
“I’ve heard reports that a few children did try to run away. No adults, though. Can’t explain that one.” The policeman didn’t look up from his notepad. “I think I’ve got everything I need to know. The doctors just want to keep you all for observation.”
“They weren’t anywhere near Lil Bit,” Scout objected. Her voice sounded dull and lifeless even to her own ears.
“Observation? What? Why?” Julien’s voice raised in alarm. Scout winced.
“They were with you when you found her.” The man answered Scout, ignoring Julien.
“No, they weren’t. They didn’t see her at all,” Scout said. Except Trey, but she wasn’t going to give him away. This thing wasn’t contagious and she knew it. Soul stealers.
“I was there. Scout was in shock. I don’t think she remembers,” Trey said. Scout jerked in his arms, surprised. She’d expected him to abandon her — he didn’t owe her anything, not now. She looked up at him, frowning like the annoyed policeman. Trey met her gaze but said nothing, tightening his arms around her protectively.
“The rest of you had no contact with the infected child?” They all shook their heads, which was true — they hadn’t shown up until the ambulance had taken Lil Bit away. “Okay then. The rest of you are free to go. You two — please follow hospital security.”
“When can I see my family?” Scout’s hand shot out, mostly of its own volition, and grabbed the cop’s arm before he could move away.
“That’s where your family is waiting. They’ve quarantined that area of the hospital for those affected by this disease and their families,” the cop said. He stepped away, motioning to hospital security.
“Wait, why does Trey need to be observed? He wasn’t injured,” Julien asked again.
“It’s just a precautionary measure,” an orderly said, coming toward them and writing on a clipboard simultaneously. “Follow me, please.”
“For how long?” Julien sounded strangled.
“It depends, ma’am. If they start showing symptoms, they’ll have to be kept longer, of course. For now, just overnight.”
“Symptoms? I didn’t know there were symptoms.” Julien’s voice was rising in pitch with every question.
“Now wait a second. Is this even legal?” Brandon asked, stepping between Trey and everyone he seemed to think was threatening his s
on.
“It is at this time, sir. The health department is just taking precautions to control the outbreak in the United States.”
Scout watched it all silently, wishing Trey had just stayed quiet. If he had, they would have gone home already and she would be with Lil Bit and none of this would matter. Nothing mattered.
“It’s okay Mom. I’ll be fine. It’s just a precaution.” Trey released Scout and stepped toward his mom. Scout felt a chill race around her at his absence. She was only wearing pajama pants and a t-shirt, and a thin hospital blanket.
“I can bring you all my video games,” Liam offered.
“I’ll grab your homework, Trey,” Tate said. They both sounded much younger, more vulnerable than normal.
“You’d do that for me?” Trey grinned, shoving Liam’s shoulder, teasing, trying to convince them he was okay.
“Do you want me to grab your homework, Scout? Since you won’t be at school tomorrow?” Tate peered around his big brother.
She stared at him for several seconds, trying to figure out what it was, exactly, he was asking. “It doesn’t matter, Tate. But thank you,” she said quietly.
Trey shot her an alarmed look. His brothers’ jaws both dropped like synchronized fish. “Get her homework,” Trey said quietly. “She’ll snap out of this and kick herself for falling behind.”
“Trey…” Brandon’s voice trailed off, looking to Julien for help, but all she seemed able to do was struggle not to cry. He grabbed his oldest son’s shoulder and led him away from the others. Scout shouldn’t have eavesdropped, but it happened anyway. Brandon, remember how you used to tease me about my super-human hearing? “She’s been in close contact with someone infected with this thing. There aren’t a lot of success stories for circumstances like that. She might…” Brandon choked, cleared his throat several times, and tried again. “Scout might not make it past this either, Trey. You need to prepare yourself.”
Trey looked over his shoulder to where Scout stood, hugging herself tightly and rocking, wishing she still held Lil Bit in her arms. She stared at the floor and refused to meet his eyes.
“She can’t go through this alone, Dad. I can’t leave her. Not again.” Trey swallowed hard. He’s scared, she realized. She wasn’t used to Trey being scared. The Trey she knew wasn’t scared of anything.
“Yeah but Trey, you’ve got a game tomorrow, remember? Playoffs,” Liam suddenly interrupted.
Trey looked over his shoulder at her again, and this time she couldn’t look away fast enough. He met her eyes without flinching. “It doesn’t matter.”
She opened her mouth to object, to tell him to go home with his family. They couldn’t legally keep him here, could they?
He narrowed his eyes and shook his head. “It. Doesn’t. Matter.”
“This way please.” The orderly folded her arms, impatient. When Scout nodded, the woman turned to go, pausing at the corner. Scout started after her, almost unwillingly glancing over her shoulder. He won’t really come. He won’t miss that game. But Trey let go of his mom and jogged after them.
“You didn’t have to do that,” Scout said, her voice low as they followed the portly woman down a series of halls.
“I’m not leaving you alone in this, Scout,” Trey said. She looked sharply at him, but he stared at the floor.
The area they’d been in had been relatively quiet, but Scout could hear the commotion growing, like a yawning roar, as they wound their way through the hospital.
“What’s going on?” Trey asked. Scout didn’t miss the way he moved in front of her. Like he could protect her. Right.
The woman leading them seemed more nervous by the step. She fluffed her short, curly gray hair with shaking hands. “It looks like your sister wasn’t the only one that contracted the disease last night.”
They came around the corner to utter chaos. Doctors, nurses, random people, as far as Scout could tell, were racing across the lobby, disappearing through doors, pushing gurneys and yelling. Lots of yelling. Families were huddled together, crying, staring in terror around them.
Scout screamed as a man right in front of her fell to his knees and then to his face. And then around him several others fell, and more screams joined Scout’s.
Scout felt a chill, as if something big rushed by her, and the whoosh of air made the hair on her arms stand on end.
Her scream died in her throat.
She couldn’t see anything but she could feel it. Power: dark, sinister, strong power. People stopped falling. The screaming turned to wails as those remaining on their feet sank to their knees or crouched next to loved ones. Scout didn’t even realize Trey was pulling her backward until they rounded the corner, out of sight.
“What just happened?” Trey had to yell to be heard over the commotion, he pinned her against the wall with his body, protecting her from something he couldn’t even see.
Scout buried her head against his chest until the wailing died down, gathering her courage. As soon as she dared, she ducked under his arm and ran back for the lobby. It was a horrific scene, with more people lying unconscious than those still awake. Doctors, nurses, old, young, it didn’t seem to matter. The orderly that had led them here had also been hit and lay silently with her eyes closed. The only thing different about these people and Lil Bit was that Lil Bit had seen what attacked her, and the horror had been there on her face. None of these people looked frightened, just asleep.
Scout wove her way through, finally grabbing a woman who looked somewhat official. “My sister was the first one here. Where is she?”
“Veronica Kordel?”
Scout nodded.
“She’s with your parents. Room 113. Straight down the hall,” the woman replied brusquely, thrusting her arm toward the hall before stepping around Scout and yelling instructions. Trey grabbed her hand and they jogged down the hall, searching room numbers.
When they found it, the door was shut. Scout paused as a horrible heart-crushing darkness settled on her like she’d walked through a mist of horror. “They’re gone,” she whispered.
“What?” Trey froze, his hand on the doorknob. Scout shook her head and Trey gave her one last confused frown before he pushed the handle down. The door swung open.
Her parents both lay across Lil Bit’s bed.
“No,” Scout moaned. She shoved through the doorway and rushed in, laying a hand on both their necks. “Mom? Dad?” She shook their shoulders roughly, but they didn’t respond. Behind her, Lil Bit’s monitor beeped steadily.
“How could this happen?” Trey whispered. “In a hospital!”
Soul stealers. Was that what Scout had felt in the hallway during the attack? Lil Bit had said the unicorns were coming, but that hadn’t felt like the unicorn she thought she remembered from the hospital, or her breakdown a few days before. That unicorn, if it was a unicorn and not a figment of her pain-riddled imagination, was peaceful and soft and warm — like a baby blanket.
But why did it go right by me? “Lil Bit said…” she hesitated. She wasn’t even entirely sure she believed Lil Bit, and she didn’t want to listen to Trey tell her she’d lost her mind.
“What?” Trey asked when she didn’t continue. He still shook Travis gently, but there was no response.
“Nothing. We need to tell someone.” She waved a shaking hand at her family, and scrubbed at her eyes with her other fist. Tears soaked her cheeks and dripped onto her collarbone, she hadn’t even realized she was crying. It didn’t matter what she believed. Lil Bit had said the unicorns could help and Scout didn’t have any other options. If the unicorns didn’t exist, she had no hope, so they had to exist. It was as simple as that.
And she had to find them and save her little sister — save her family.
“Scout, hey.” Trey grabbed her as she brushed by him on her way to the hall. “Hey.” He tipped her head up so he could see into her eyes, searching her face. “What can I do? How can I help?”
She pulled away from him. “We need to find
someone to take care of my parents. And then you can take me home.” She saw the pain crash across his face, but he hid it well. Sorry, Trey. But I don’t need you sending me to a psych ward because I believe in unicorns. And you would, too. Traitor.
It wasn’t fair, and she knew it, but she didn’t care. She’d lost her whole family. She was alone now. There wasn’t a soul she could turn to for help, least of all Trey, whose track record didn’t give her a whole lot of comfort.
Suddenly she was so, so tired. Her knees buckled and she sank to the floor, burying her face in her hands. “Scout!” Trey shouted behind her. “No, no, no, no.” He scooped her up in his arms and she realized belatedly that he thought she’d been attacked. Or… caught the virus. Or whatever. “Help! Someone!”
“Trey, it’s okay! I’m okay! Stop yelling.”
“Scout. I thought — I thought you—”
“I know. I’m sorry. I’m okay, really. Let’s find some help.”
Thanks to Trey screaming like a maniac, help came running. Scout watched numbly as they hooked her parents up to machines and monitors and IV bags until they had as many wires running away from them as Lil Bit did.
“Would you like to stay in the room with them? The couch makes into a bed.” The nurse seemed to realize Scout was on the verge of a complete collapse, and spoke very gently, even though she stood in the hall with her clipboard, too afraid to go into the room unless she had to.
“No. I want to go home.” Scout knew she sounded selfish, inconsiderate, whatever. But she couldn’t stay here. How on earth would she go looking for unicorns in a hospital surrounded by terrified people? No, she had to go home. She had to save Lil Bit.
“I’ll take her home,” Trey said quietly. He hadn’t said a word since setting her down almost an hour ago with a brief, muttered apology.
“Are you sure? Do you have someone to stay with you?” The nurse peered at her over her glasses.