Clear Lake Academy holds the worst of the worst delinquents from around the country. Each and every student there holds a notorious background that led them there and almost everyone avoids them.
After setting the tenth building on fire, which just...
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L A K E N
Rain has a way of making everything feel muted —drowning out everything, demanding attention.
By the time I reached the hospital, the sky had opened up completely; water streaking down the windows and turning the parking lot into a blur of gray. I barely remember getting inside. I barely remember breathing. I only remember the words delivered over the phone.
They're gone.
Hendrix. Bentley. Pandora.
Gone.
The hallway outside her room was chaos when I arrived. Nurses whispering. A security guard stationed at the end. Will standing rigid, phone pressed to his ear, voice sharp and controlled in a way that meant he was barely holding it together.
The room itself—Empty.
But it looked normal. As if nothing had gone wrong. As if the occupants had simply gone down to the canteen to grab some food, or popped to the bathroom. It looked fine.
"They were here fifteen minutes ago." Will said when he finally hung up. His eyes met mine. Something dangerous gleamed in them now.
"Security footage shows Pandora leaving, Bentley a couple minutes after. Hendrix was still here up until a couple minutes ago."
A couple minutes.
We'd missed them by a couple minutes.
"How?"
"We don't know yet."
The rain outside intensified, tapping violently against the windows like it was applauding the disaster. Somewhere down the hall, a monitor beeped steadily. Life continuing in neat, measured intervals while ours fractured.
The doors slammed open from the end of the hallways. My heart leaped into my throat as if hoping for a miracle, head snapping to the door.
Adir rushed in first, soaked through, dark hair plastered to his forehead, eyes wide and scanning — frantic, searching every face, every doorway. Sophianna stumbled in right behind him, their hands locked together like a tether keeping them upright. They looked like they'd run the entire way.
"Where are they?" Adir demanded before he'd even fully stopped moving. His voice cracked under the weight of it. "Tell me they're still here."
No one answered fast enough.
Sophianna's gaze flicked past us into the empty room. Her breath hitched. "No," she whispered. "No, no, no—"
Will stepped forward, that cold, controlled mask still firmly in place—no hint of his usual softness . "They're gone."
Adir stared at him like he hadn't heard correctly. "Gone where?"
"We don't know."
Silence swallowed the hallway again, thicker this time. Sophianna's grip on Adir tightened. "Security?" she asked quickly, clinging to logic. "Cameras? Doors? There's no way they just walked out unnoticed."
