Hiraeth: Blackout (I)

Chapter Ten

Autumn was soon gone. Winter had arrived, cold, but not nearly as snowy as Wondryn.

It was a week before Winter break.

At that point, my friends and I had decided to give up on confronting Bexley. Although it was hard for me, I tried to rationalize it.

Maybe Principal Python was right. Maybe Bexley was just trying to scare me.

We knew it was pointless because no matter how hard we tried, no one could figure out what Bexley's plan was. No one could even find her.

And July had been awfully quiet about it.

For the past few weeks, he'd been acting... strange. Creepier than usual.

Sometimes he wouldn't show up for meals, and Damien would be upset. Other times Damien would come to school alone, saying that his twin had disappeared for the Day. And, more often than not, he'd skip class for no reason. Whenever we'd question July about it, he'd just look at us funny and say something like, "What's it to you?"

In Alternative Abilities class on Seconday, Damien was particularly distraught about his twin.

"What's going on?" I asked as I sat down with my friends. The silvery-haired boy was being comforted by Karter, Troy, and Aka.

"It's July again," Karter explained, "He's disappeared."

"He's been gone since Seday evening!" Damien wailed, tears in his deep ruby eyes.

Aka turned to me, his face grim. "Mike, somethin's wrong. I can feel it."

"Y-Yeah," I replied, thinking hard. "Do you think it's..."

"... Bexley."

#

By Quartday, July's parents had issued a missing being report to the city's law enforcement. Damien was skipping out on school to help his family search for his twin.

At lunch, Derek and Kira came running to the table in a panic. "Kat's disappeared!" Derek exclaimed.

"Huh?" everyone replied, almost in sync.

My short friend, whose eyes were red and worried, nodded. "She hasn't shown up to any of our classes since Seday. So principal Python finally sent staff to look for her. They couldn't find her anywhere, and she never signed out of the office. I tried calling her on the telephone but she wouldn't answer!"

I did notice she was gone in P.E. I just thought she was sick. This can't be good.

Karter leaned in closer to me. "Have you heard about the other disappearances?" She whispered.

I shook my head, a sinking sense of dread washing over me.

Karter lowered her voice to a whisper. "Four other kids here have gone missing. They're supposed to announce it to-Day."

I widened my eyes. "Seriously?"

Aka joined in, rudely shoving Parry aside. "And one of 'em is Bexley!"

My heart stopped.

What does this mean? Is Bexley responsible for the disappearances? Or is she, July, and Kat victims of something else at work here?

Throughout the following classes, there were several announcements about the missing students. I became even more confused when Nelson's name was announced, along with Liana and Mallory. Other than July, each one had disappeared during school hours. And the number kept growing

Then, in sixth period, it happened.

At first, I couldn't believe what was going on. I guess I just didn't want to.