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“Iwill.”
He leaned down and kissed the top of my head. “All right. I guess I’ll go home and start hunting,” hemurmured.
“Let me know if you find anything while I’m still with Adam andTrina.”
“Sure.” He drew back and nodded, squeezing my hand tightly in his. “Even if I don’t find anything, I’ll keep trying to figure out our next move. I’m not giving up on this shit now that I know aboutit.”
“I know,” I said softly, giving him a faintsmile.
“Seriously, Laney. I promise.” He stared down at me, eyes filled with blazing intensity. “Whatever the fuck is going on in this town… we’re gonna get to the bottom ofit.”
10
Laney
Iwas halfwayout of Royal Hall when my phone buzzed again. It was the groupchat.
Adam:Waited at the top of the path but you guys weren’t there. Figured you might’ve already headed to the building, so I came down and you guys aren’t here either lol. Anyway, now that I’m here, I’ll just wait for yououtside.
I shot back a quick message:Sorry, on my way now! Got caught up in thelibrary.
Adam:That’s ok. Are you withT?
Me:No, I skipped the last 2 periods to do some stuff, so I don’t know where sheis.
Adam:Ugh, she’s not seeing or answering any of these texts :/ I wonder if sheforgot.
Me:Her phone probably died. I’ll wait for her at the top of the path and let you know when she showsup.
Adam:Ok cool! See you guys soon. PS. Hurry up, it’s creepy as fuck being alone downhere.
I hurried down to the top of the main path that led to the lake and waited by the sign there. Students were milling about all over the area, but I couldn’t see Trinaanywhere.
Some girls from the rowing club spotted me and stopped to chat to me about something funny I missed at one of the recent morning practices. I hadn’t shown up to any of the sessions because of last Tuesday’s assemblyincident.
None of the girls mentioned the video at all, and they were all friendly, but I could tell by their overly-sympathetic tones that it was still on their minds. At least they were being nice about it,though.
Once they were gone, I turned around and scanned the area again. There was still no sign ofTrina.
I pulled out my phone and texted Adam again.Can’t see her anywhere, and she’s ten minutes late at this point. Should I just come and meet you downthere?
Adam:Sure. Know how to gethere?
Me:Nope,lol.
Adam:Ok, don’t worry, it’s easy. Just head down the lake path until you see a yellow ribbon wrapped around a birch. That’s the marker for another path. Turn left onto that, and then keep following it. Only takes about 3minutes.
I followed his directions and found the yellow marker easily. There was no one on the other much-narrower path. It was flanked by towering trees and the ground was blanketed with damp leaves and twigs that smelled of petrichor from a recentdownpour.
Even though I couldn’t see or hear anyone else, and I was sure no one had followed me, I picked up a large stick to carry with me. Better safe thansorry.
I reached the end of the path a few minutes later. It terminated in a large semi-circular clearing in the woods. A half-finished building lay in the center. It was similar to the other abandoned building near the lake; the one Chris Hewittson showed me. Tall and imposing with gray stonework banded with carved rosettes and fleur-de-lispatterns.
On one side, the roof was finished—dark shingles speckled with pinecones and leaves from the nearby trees. To the right of that was a set of gray stone steps, presumably leading to different entrances on eachstory.
As I drew closer, I heard a masculine cry, followed by a familiar voice. “Stop! Get the fuck offme!”
I took off running. “Adam?” I called out, heading for thesteps.
