Page 14 of Into the Dark, We Go

"You didn’t say anything about it before!"

"So what? What’s your problem?"

"What’syourproblem?" I retorted, getting angry. "You’re acting weird, and now you’re going on this trip I’ve never heard about!"

"Ididtell you about it. You just didn’t listen, like always!"

"When will you be back?"

"Would you just stop trying to control everything?"

"It’s a simple question!"

"I’ll be back Monday, okay?"

I didn’t anticipate getting into an argument, but I could swear on my life Lucas hadn’t mentioned this trip before. Everything about it was odd, the timing, the secrecy.

Suddenly, he changed his tone, once again becoming loving and caring. "Babe, it’s just a boys’ camping trip. Nothing more. We can hang out next weekend, okay?" He kissed me. "Just go have a girls’ night out or something."

I wasn’t going to, but Sarah called and asked me to hang out with her at a bar because her Tinder date stood her up. By the time I got there, she was already flirting with some guys from the football team—the same guys Lucas had told me he was going camping with. My heart sank.

"Hey girl, why the long face?" she asked, tipsy.

I didn’t respond before taking a shot of Fireball and feeling it burn my insides.

"Lucas went camping with Matt and Jacob."

"But Jacob’s here," she said, looking at me like I was a silly goose and had it all wrong.

"I know."

"Wait, you don’t think he’s—?" She didn’t finish, but I knew what she was going to say.

"I don’t know."

My first thought was to call him, but Sarah stopped me.

"No! Wait till he’s back and ask how it went, and then you can catch him in the lie."

But we didn’t follow through with this plan. Instead, we ended up getting drunk and sending Lucas pictures of us with his friends. He never responded to any of my texts.

He did get back on Monday but mentioned nothing. He acted normal, and I convinced myself it was all in my head.

5

Chapter Five

September, 2020

We drovethrough a tiny downtown and continued uphill, moving away from the lake. The uniform residential neighbourhoods gradually gave way to older, sturdier houses, many of which were in visible need of repair—peeling paint, sagging porches, and overgrown yards.

Finally, Mitchell pointed out a driveway leading to one of the hilltop houses, which had no signs or numbers. I slowly drove into the yard, the gravel crunching beneath the wheels, my heart racing with every turn. I kept telling myselfLucas isn’t here, but my mind played tricks on me, making me panic. What if I saw him now? What would I tell him? My palms grew sweaty on the steering wheel as anxiety gripped me.

The house loomed before us, a Colonial Revival-style home with classical white siding that had faded to a dull sheen. Its dark windows stared like cold, empty eyes, daring us to approach.

June and Mitchell stepped out, but I stayed in my seat, nausea churning in my stomach. I took a few deep breaths and forced myself to follow the siblings.

My hands trembled. I dropped the keys, and their metallic jingle sliced through the silence. When I bent to pick them up, my phone slipped from my grip. I winced and glanced at the others, hoping they weren’t annoyed by my nervous clumsiness. June looked calm, but her posture was stiff, and her knuckles were white around the phone in her hand.