“I wish I had the Taser that Sydney used against the Ridgeview boys,” I tell him. He mumbles that that would be great, but unfortunately, it’s just us and a pair of flimsy crutches.
When Jackson first followed our bus to the academy from the gas station, he was looking for answers. His mother had died and he blamed our headmaster. Now he has a new lead. I see a glimpse of who he was those months ago, that tenacious look that seesthrough me—or rather, past me, toward his goal. He wants to know what happened to his mother, and the idea of him loving her that much is heartbreaking. It’s heartbreaking because she’s gone and she’s never coming back.
Jackson picks through his keys until he finds the one he’s looking for. He motions for me to follow him to the side of the house. There’s another door there, but I notice immediately that the screen door isn’t latched closed. Jackson swings it open, and puts his key in the lock of the front door. But the moment he attempts to turn it, the door pushes open. It wasn’t even fully shut.
“Fuck,” Jackson says under his breath. He casts a concerned look in my direction.
“They might have come here after your house,” I say. “We should check that… We should check that everything is okay.” But what I mean is that we should check that his father is okay.
Jackson swallows hard, takes out his phone, and taps on the flashlight. He eases the door open the rest of the way. I move past him, taking the lead since I can move faster. He hands me his phone, and I shine it around.
It’s impossibly dark inside the kitchen, although it’s tidy and cramped. With the door open, the smell from the outside wafts in, damp and rotting. At least… I think the smell is from the outside.
“That way to the living room,” Jackson says, pointing to our right. I shine the light in that direction and head that way. Just as we step through the threshold, there’s a noise—a sharp gasp. In turn, I yelp out a scream, swinging the light around wildly to findthe source. In response, another flashlight shines in my direction.
I’m not sure what I notice first: the two figures standing in the middle of the room or the body on the floor. Jackson grabs me by the arm to pull me back just as my light shines on one of the faces.
My heart stops. “Annalise?” I whisper.
Annalise is standing there, looking just as surprised to see me. Her red hair is tied up in a high ponytail and she’s wearing a black tracksuit. Quentin is next to her, his lips parted like he wants to say something but isn’t sure how. I look back at Annalise, and she bites on the corner of her lip, tugging the skin through her teeth.
I drop the light to the person at her feet and recognize that the body on the floor belongs to Valdemar Casey. And judging by his blank stare at the ceiling, the odd color to his skin… he’s not alive. I look up at my friend again, my eyes wide.
“Annalise,” I murmur. “Did you kill Jackson’s father?”
8
Annalise seems taken aback by the question, and Quentin puts his hand on her shoulder before stepping past her.
“Jackie…,” he says to Jackson, bracing for the impact of his reaction. “I’m so sorry, man.”
Jackson drops his crutches and rushes toward his father. It’s still dark and there’s a loud crack as he bangs his hip into the side table, knocking over a lamp. It smashes on the floor behind the couch. Jackson howls a moment in pain before choking it back.
He lowers himself to the ground and slides next to his father’s body. I aim the beam of light on the floor as Jackson checks his father’s pulse. He waits there a long moment, breathing heavily, and then he rocks back, letting his arms fall limply at his sides.
I look at Annalise again. “Did you do this?” I ask her.
“No,” she replies. “The front door was open, and he was dead when we got here.”
“And the academy?” I ask.
“I burned it to the ground,” Annalise says. “It’s gone.”
“I noticed,” I reply. “Were… Were the professors still there?” I ask. “Did you seem them?”
“All gone. Right?” She nods her chin at Quentin.
“Place was a mess, though,” Quentin tells me, momentarily looking away from where Jackson is sitting on the floor. “Something… Someone tore through there, that’s for sure.”
“Leandra, I’m assuming?” Annalise asks me. “Whoever it was, they were thorough. Not a single professor in sight, just a little blood in the halls.” She pauses, flicking her eyes to Quentin, and he crinkles up his nose. Annalise turns back to me. “What in the world are you doing back here, Mena? Where are the other girls?”
“We split up to track down the investors.” I look at the body on the floor. “Including him.” Her eyes widen, a flinch of disgust as the corner of her lip rises. “A lot has happened, Annalise,” I add. “We don’t have much time.”
“I’ll say,” she agrees. “Not to make matters worse, but I’m not sure I’ve seen a single living person since I’ve been back.”
“What?” Jackson asks loudly from the floor, his head snapping up. “Who else is dead?”
“I’m sure some are dead,” she says. “But as far as we’ve seen, they’re just… missing. I was surprised to find—” She pauses, carefully picking her words. “I was surprised to find your dad,” she adds. “We checked at least ten places, including the theater, the diner, even the Federal Flower Garden, but nobody was there.” She runs her hand along her ponytail. “I have no idea what happened to them,” she says, “but there was an extinction-level event in this town.”
