“Shut up,” I rush out, reaching up to cover his mouth, but he grabs my wrist, lowering my arm gently. “Sue me. I’m fascinated. I kind of always thought you were a rich-boy douchebag whose only saving grace was that he wasn’t an elitist. But it turns out you’re a nonelitist rich-boy douchebag who speaks three, almost four languages and saved your grandma from a fire ... that you started.”
The way he laughs is like an explosion. It’s loud and intrusive, but if he was a wine, he’d be a really expensive bottle with a bold flavor.
And I can’t help myself—I pull out my phone and take his picture. When he looks at me, I shrug and say, “Proof of life ... for our guardians.”
I shake my head, making the thoughts go away because I’m acting like he’s gone. I don’t mean to, but that’s how fucking scared I am that we’re too late. That he’s ...Don’t think it. He’s not.
“You’re sure we’re going the right way?” Goldie whispers, giving me a reason to focus on something else.
Noah lets out a frustrated groan, gripping the steering wheel too hard.
“Yeah, I’m following the directions. But what the fuck is all the way out here?”
He’s not mad at my sister; he’s feeling exactly what we all are—scared. Because we don’t know what’s going to happen.
What I do know is the further we drive, the bigger the pit in my stomach grows.
But I need to stay positive. Not let fear get the best of me.
Chase is alive, and we’re bringing him home.
I close my eyes, this time trying to picture him in my mind, him smiling at me the way he always does, because it’s always the thing that keeps me calm.
“Have the police messaged or said anything?” I ask Goldie, already knowing the answer because I asked the same question an hour ago.
I open my eyes, watching her check her voicemail anyway, then shake her head. Noah was smart to pass on Eddie’s info, along withRemus’s photo, leaving them with Goldie’s number. Just in case he gets any more texts.
I take a deep breath, my eyes drifting back out the window, when a half-collapsed shed catches my eye off in the distance. I stare at it, my head following it as we pass by, before I immediately look out the other side to a section of high desert that’s more lush.
Way more.Oh my god.
“You guys ...” I whisper, but I’m ignored.
“We have to make a left here,” Noah says over me and begins slowing down.
I know this place. Fuck.
The moment he turns, the tires hit gravel, and my heart stops beating. I know exactly where we are, and I’m the only one, just me.
“Oh my god, is this ...” Goldie breathes out, not finishing what she’s saying, but she doesn’t have to because the answer is yes.
The car pulls to a complete stop as nausea roils through me. I never wanted to come back here.
Noah and Goldie stare forward, their eyes tipped up, staring at what I already know is there. And still, my hands grip the backs of the seats as I scoot to the edge of the leather, eyes locked on the same thing—the Camp Weonoke sign.
It’s still arched, standing tall, marking the replicated entrance to the place that lives in all our nightmares.
My voice comes out as barely a whisper. “He’s brought us back to where it all began.”
Nobody says a word. Maybe out of fear or rage. But either way, we all know our worst nightmares are about to be relived.
Noah restarts the car and puts it back in drive before we slowly roll under the sign, only the sound of the gravel echoing around us. I try not to look at the tagline,Adventure Awaits, because there’s nothing about this adventure that I’m looking forward to other than getting my goddamn boyfriend back.
“This is fucking sadistic,” Goldie breathes out.
I can hear how scared she is.Same.
The thing about this set is it’s one of those locations that, from the outside driving by, looks like some kind of desert oasis with a spot of tall trees that make it impossible to see in.
