Love's Cruel Redemption (The Ghost Bird Series)

Oh no. Not now!

Nathan nudged me forward. “I have to get you out of here. We need to hide in the school. Somewhere they'll ignore in case they search the building.”

“We can't just leave the others to handle this alone,” I said.

“You have to.” He turned to me. “You've got to stay away from the police and any investigation.”

I wasn't sure my ghost bird status was worth all this. What would they think of Mr. Blackbourne and the others making an exchange at this time of night?

We looked down the dark hallway, which led around to where the others were. Police lights lit up the sides of the hallway. They were close, possibly in the parking lot.

Nathan turned, and tugged me along, heading to the stairs. “Never go up the stairs. Sure. That's always it, isn't it?” he muttered.

Despite what he was saying, we climbed. I was breathless at the top, from fear and from going so fast, but he urged me on.

“Isn’t there a light on your keys?” I asked.

He brought them out, checking but his light wasn’t working. “Battery died at camp,” he said.

“We need to find someplace to hide,” he said. “At least until we can be sure they aren't coming for us.”

“There's a closet,” I said. I examined the extending hallways around us and then picked a direction. There were loads of classrooms, of course, but it was too easy to take a look inside of them. The little dusty closet had a few places to hide, if they checked inside it at all. “I think it's this way.”

With all the lights off now, including in these hallways, most everything was pitch black. We paused just inside the edge of a hall. Without any light, it was way too dark to see up here.

He motioned to the edge of the hall where lockers were lined up. He pressed a hand to it and kept his other hand with mine. “We'll follow these. “They'll get us to the end of the hallway.”

“Maybe we should use a phone,” I whispered. “For light.”

“We can't give him the advantage like that,” he said. He tugged me gently. “Come on. We've got to go.”

I clutched to him. I wasn't sure I could go through with this without him. He was much braver than I thought I ever could be.

He stepped forward, keeping his palm against the lockers. It was the only sound aside from our footsteps. A clunking noise erupted as he hit one of the locks, and he changed position to avoid hitting them again.

But he didn't stop. He kept a moderate walking pace, slow enough that we wouldn’t trip hard over anything left on the floor.

We were halfway through when he stopped. I paused beside him.

I didn't know what he was doing. It was too dark to see. Did he hear something?

Suddenly, I smelled it.

Jasmine. Lavender.

It was the same scent Volto often carried with him.

“He's here,” I whispered.

Before Nathan could respond, there was a zap, familiar to me and yet weaker.

A stun gun.

Nathan jolted forward, releasing my hand. The sensation stopped instantly. “Go!” he shouted.

I didn't want to. I couldn't leave him. But there was only one of Volto, and I needed to either hide or get to the others and stop whatever he was doing.

I glanced back only once, spotting the green glow of a mask. It propelled me forward, wild fear taking over me.

I ran. I needed to get to the others. For Nathan. I couldn’t take him on alone.

There was a stairwell ahead of me.

I used the lockers as my guide to get to the end of the dark hall.

A body collided with mine, taking me down. I struggled, crying out and kicking.

A bag went over my head, stifling my voice and blinding me completely.





Vanished




Nathan

––––––––

Her footsteps stopped somewhere in the distance, she cried out, followed by the sound of dragging. Muffled movements. Silence.

The pain that had radiated out from his back had subsided, but his limbs were numb. The voltage had been set high. He breathed in sharply, crouching on the floor, palms against the tile. He resisted the urge to vomit, swallowing back bile to keep himself together. He’d been zapped hard before, but this was rough.

He glared through blurred eyes toward where Sang had disappeared. He crawled in that direction. After a few steps, he picked himself up, regaining feeling and movement again.

“Sang!” he shouted into the darkness.

No response.

Did she get away? Where was she?

He jogged out toward where he was sure the back staircase was. He paused at the top, turning around, looking into the dark back at the maze of hallways on the upper floors.

There was no way to tell which way she went. When Volto didn't stay for him, Nathan was sure he was after her.

Or he already had her.

Which direction they'd gone in, he couldn't tell.

He listened in the dark, waiting, but he couldn't wait. She was around here somewhere. Close, too. He couldn't have gotten far with her.

He needed the others. Maybe even the police.

Damn her status. Damn her parents if they could find out about this. She was gone. And he needed the others to help find her.

He took the stairs. Slow. Too slow, but his knees were wobbly. If he crashed, if he fell, he was the only one who knew she was gone. Volto would be long gone if that happened.

He forced his muscles to work, straining himself to keep upright and using the handrail.

Once he was on the ground floor, he ran toward the cafeteria and went through a door that allowed him into the back kitchen area.

The lights on in this part of the school suddenly blinded him. He covered his eyes for a moment, looking in.

Wait. The lights were on here?

He jogged past the ovens to where he left Victor.

The laptop was still there. Victor was gone. The fridge door was closed.

Where were they?

He looked around, listened. They weren’t in here.

He ran to the two double doors, waiting only a moment, readying himself for police who were possibly on the other side. They may be dealing with them.

He had to go out there. For her. Who knew what he’d do to her? Volto could try to put her in the lake, like he did to him. Or worse.

He pushed his body against the door, opening it slow, ready for anything.

The air changed into something more humid and thick. He hadn’t realized how dry his throat had gotten.

Mr. Blackbourne stood near the back of the truck that had backed up. He was monitoring.

Victor stood beside him, speaking. “You know she's going to get after you if I let you stay up.”

“This has to get done,” Mr. Blackbourne said. “I trust you, but it's better if I stay nearby. Just in case.”

Nathan stumbled out, looking around wildly. “Where are they?” Only he realized after he spoke that the police weren't here at all. Were they on the other side?

Did they just go past the school and not stop?

Mr. Blackbourne and Victor turned to him. The guys loading the truck stopped what they were doing.

“What's wrong?” Mr. Blackbourne asked. “Why are you back—”

“Volto's here,” he said, huffing. “He's got her.”

Mr. Blackbourne turned fully, an angry, powerful look surfacing. “Where?”

“He's here somewhere. He's got the building locked up on the other side. We went upstairs to go around. I heard sirens... I thought the police were here. He stunned me.” He swallowed thickly and coughed. “He took her.”

The guys near the truck, including Uncle, came closer.

Mr. Blackbourne motioned to them. “Surround the building,” he told them. “Man each exit. Make sure no one can get out of here without going by you. Get anyone within a mile radius here right now.” He looked at Victor. “Go get Luke. See if you can find out what happened to the lights and get them on. I want them working immediately.”

“On it,” Victor said, and he started running.

“Don't get separated!” he shouted after him and he turned to Nathan, motioning him back into the cafeteria. “You're with me. Take me to where you last saw her.”

“We need lights. It's dark up there.”

“Where's your phone?”