Page 88 of Abandoned

Enzweiler.

Zara had nothing.

And the last sign? Zara really wasn’t sure what she meant by it. Flesh was close, but it wasn’t quite right. Was she doing the sign incorrectly?

Zara had no idea what she meant. What other signs were similar? Tea? That wasn’t quite what she was doing. Tornado? No, that definitely wasn’t it. Ghost? That was a better option than the others, but it still made no sense.

The sound of dripping water caught Zara’s ears. Oh no. Was water coming into the crawlspace?

It had been so hot and dry lately that the ground probably couldn’t absorb the quantity of water that was falling. Now she had yet another concern. Was she going to drown?

A rumbling sound joined the dripping. No!

Wait, that wasn’t water. That was the sound of a car. Was someone outside?

She tried to yell help, but the word didn’t come out.

She tried banging the chain, but it didn’t make much noise. It definitely wasn’t loud enough to be heard over the rain.

Lord, please send help.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Will got out of the car at yet another house. This one was way back in a neighborhood, near the end of a dead-end road. They’d already been to three houses on the list. And they’d found no traces of anyone. Several other houses were being checked by another set of officers.

A piece of paper was plastered to the cracked driveway. Will stooped and picked it up. A receipt for the local smoothie place. Could this be a clue from Zara? Had she been here? Was she still here?

Wyatt glanced over his shoulder. “Plenty of people go to that joint.”

Will checked the date. “It’s from this morning. And it’s for Zara’s favorite smoothie.”

“Who doesn’t like a strawberry smoothie? Did Grant come to work with one today?”

Will shrugged.

“Either way, let’s check this place out.”

Will nodded. Please help us find her, Lord.

Will followed Wyatt to the back door, and Logan and Doug took the front door. They breached the house and searched, clearing one room at a time. Will and Logan met at the stairs to the second floor. They were in complete disrepair.

The friends worked their way up carefully and cleared the second story.

On the way back down, Logan’s foot broke through one of the stairs. Thankfully, the other foot stayed steady on an unbroken step. “I guess we know why this house was set to be destroyed.”

Will wanted to laugh, but he was too frustrated that they still hadn’t found Zara.

Where was she? God, please direct me.

A noise he couldn’t identify seemed to work through the walls of the house.

“Did you hear that?”

Logan shook his head. “Hear what?”

He found Doug and Wyatt. “Did you guys hear that noise?”

Wyatt said, “All I heard was Logan’s foot going through the floor up there.”