Into the Light

Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

   Sang went to her room and shut the door. Marie wasn’t there. She must be in the bathroom, Sang thought and fell into bed. She wondered how the guys were doing. North had seemed so distraught as he drove away. Sang didn’t like wave of seriousness that had washed over her new friends. She wanted to reach out to them and remembered the cellphone North had lent her.

   Sang fished it out of her pocket and turned it on. It vibrated to life. RED ALERT flashed across the screen, and Sang’s green eyes widened. She’d gotten the RED ALERT.

   Mr. Owen Blackbourne must not have known that Sang had North’s old phone. If he had two, maybe Owen just sent it to both numbers not realizing…that Sang had one. With the RED ALERT came an address to the rich side of town. There were unread text messages.

OWEN: Sean is not responding. He was driving home at 1520 hours as we were on a call when he reported an attack outside Ashley Waters High School.

He reported a sighting of a young brunette around the age of seventeen being pursued by a young man dressed in a football uniform. She was screaming for help. The football player attacked the girl and was attempting to carry her back into the school when Sean left his vehicle and disconnected his call with me. He has not been heard from since. His car has not been located, and someone has turned his cellphone off.

Please report to my home at 1212 Echo Lane immediately for debriefing.

LUKE: I have other information to report at that time. Kota, Nathan, Silas, and I are on our way now. North will be on his way shortly.

VICTOR: I finished my concert. My father will not let me leave. I will be enroute as soon as an opportunity presents itself. I have accessed the security camera located at the front of the school. It’s old, and part of it has been defaced, but I was able to pull video from around the aforementioned time.

   Videos came through.

   *Dr. Sean Green on the sidewalk, unconscious. Two boys in football uniforms dragging him into the building. A second video of a football player carrying a brunette into the building. Sang squinted at the image. A third video of the girl running out of the school. The terror on the girl’s face sucked the air from Sang’s lungs. Marie. It was Marie. Fighting the football player. Her head smacking into pavement. Getting carried away. Getting carried away by Rocky.*

   Sang couldn’t breathe. She stumbled to her feet, down the hall to Gabe’s room. She knocked quietly on the door. Annette passed by her as she did.

   “Is something wrong, sweetheart?” she asked. Her cockatoo, Sir Reginald, was perched on her shoulder.

   “Something wrong, sweetheart! Something wrong, sweetheart!” he mocked.

   “N-No. I just forgot to ask Gabe a question.”

   “Well, it’s getting late. You and your sister should get some sleep.”

   “We will.” Sang smiled convincingly. “I’ll be going to bed in just a minute.”

   Annette gave Sang a long look. She knew something was off, but Annette also knew that sometimes kids needed to be left to sort things out amongst themselves. She knew Sang and Marie were not having an easy time at the new school. She knew a girl was bullying them. She knew that there was nothing she could do about it, short of pulling them out and homeschooling them. Annette frowned, remembering the tea reading and wondered if she should pry. “You can always talk to me Sang. If you need anything. I’m here.”