Chapter 2 - THIRTEEN MINUTESEthan carried Emmie off the porch.
His boots hit the gravel hard enough to send stones skittering into the darkness.
“Can you walk?” he asked.
Emmie shook her head.
“Can you tell me where we are?”
Another shake.
Her breathing was shallow.
Ethan looked at the medical bag.
The red digits continued counting down.
00:12:21
He wanted to rip the device off.
He stopped himself.
What if it was connected to her medically?
What if the entire thing was a trap?
He lifted the phone from his pocket and dialed emergency services.
No signal.
He moved toward the driveway.
Nothing.
He tried again.
Still nothing.
“Why can’t I call?”
Emmie whispered, “They block it.”
Ethan stared at her.
“Who?”
She swallowed.
“The people who come at night.”
A cold wind moved through the trees.
Ethan looked toward the road.
There was nothing there.
Then headlights appeared.
Far away.
Too far to identify.
But they were coming directly toward the house.
Ethan tightened his grip.
“Vivian called someone?”
Emmie shook her head.
“She never calls.”
“What do you mean?”
“They already know.”
The headlights disappeared behind the curve.
Ethan turned back toward the house.
The upper windows were dark.
Every one of them.
He looked down at the card.
There was writing on the reverse side.
He flipped it over.
A number.
17
Beneath it:
SHE IS NOT THE FIRST.
Ethan’s pulse jumped.
“Emmie.”
Her eyes were closing.
“Hey. Stay awake.”
“She’s going to move me.”
“Who?”
“Vivian.”
“Where?”
Emmie struggled for breath.
“Downstairs.”
Ethan glanced toward the house.
“Is there a basement?”
She nodded.
“What’s down there?”
Emmie’s fingers dug into his jacket.
“Kids.”
The word barely escaped her.
Ethan froze.
“How many?”
Emmie stared past him.
“Six.”
Before he could ask anything else, the house lights switched on.
All of them.
At once.
The front window illuminated.
A man stood behind the glass.
Not Vivian.
A stranger.
Tall.
Black coat.
Still as a statue.
Ethan felt Emmie go rigid.
“That’s him,” she whispered.
“Who?”
“The man who smiles before they take someone.”
Ethan took one step backward.
The stranger lifted one hand.
He pointed directly at Ethan.
Then he slowly touched two fingers to his wrist.
Checking the time.
Ethan looked down.
00:10:03
The stranger smiled.
Then the house lights went dark again.
Ethan turned toward the road.
The approaching headlights had returned.
This time there were two sets.
“No,” he whispered.
He started running.
Emmie clung to him.
The gravel ended at a narrow trail through the woods.
Ethan plunged into it.
Branches slapped his shoulders.
He didn't know where the trail led.
He only knew he needed distance.
Behind him, an engine roared to life.
Then another.
The vehicles had reached the property.
Ethan ran harder.
Emmie buried her face against his chest.
“They found us.”
“We’re getting out.”
“They always find us.”
“Not tonight.”
She was silent.
Then she whispered something that stopped him cold.
“Ethan…”
He slowed.
“What?”
“I didn't break the chain.”
He looked at her.
“What?”
“I was waiting for you.”
“That doesn't make sense.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“I was told not to break it.”
“Who told you?”
Emmie stared over his shoulder.
Behind them, somewhere in the trees, a branch snapped.
She whispered:
“The girl who escaped last month.”
Ethan’s blood ran cold.
“There was someone else?”
Emmie nodded.
“She told me…”
A second branch snapped.
Closer.
“She told me the chain was never keeping me inside.”
Ethan stopped breathing for a second.
“Then what was it keeping inside?”
Emmie’s eyes widened.
May you like
She pointed toward his jacket.
“The thing they put in me.”
