Page 95 of Marked By Shadows

But you’ve been so happy this trip. You look at Alex and your face lights up. You spend hours working on crafts and smile not realizing anyone is watching. You reach for him without worrying about anyone else. I think he’s lightened your heart. That makes me happy. I can see he inspires you.

I just wish I didn’t have to lose you as a friend…

There seemed to be a long pause after that one as the time change showed an hour or so mark.

I haven’t been the best of friends to you, and I’m sorry. Was wrapped up too much in myself. That’s my failing. Having a career and fame is great until you realize how much you have to give up for them. I’m glad you saw that so soon and didn’t waste your life alone like I have.

Please call me when you get home, so I know you’re safe. As soon as I find your costume, I’ll mail it to you. I shouldn’t have listened to MaryAnn’s advice anyway and let her switch them out. I’m so sorry. Love, Freya.

I stared at the long trail of texts, read through them a half dozen times. Nothing about it screamed insane murderer to me. Nothing about what she said made me think she would have taken Alex.

I tried calling Alex. His phone just rang and rang, then clicked to voicemail. I didn’t leave a message. My heart pounded with worry. Maybe the shadow had taken him. Alex said he thought that the paranormal wasn’t drawn to us, that this time wasn’t really about the shadows that dogged our steps, but instead about the people around us. Maybe he’d been wrong.

What if it had been waiting for the right moment to grab him? A time when the rest of us weren’t watching? But why give him back at all then? He wasn’t healed from the last round.

I pulled on my clothes and shoes, trying to think through the panic. Did I have the detective’s number? Maybe I should call him?

I dug through my wallet and realized Alex had that card, not me. Fuck.

I called Alex again. Nothing. Texted him, begging him to reply. Maybe he had gotten distracted at Subway. For two hours? My brain thought that was stupid even as I grabbed the spare room card, car keys, and darted out into the hallway and down the corridor to the main outer door. He hadn’t been wrong about Subway being across the parking lot. It was in a small strip mall kitty-corner to the hotel, dark and closed. I raced to it anyway, the sign on the window saying they closed at eleven. Early for a Subway, but I saw no sign of employees or Alex.

Fuck.

My phone was clutched so hard in my hand I didn’t realize I’d dialed until the faint buzzing ring echoed through the silence of the late evening. Standing in the parking lot there was nothing moving, no cars, no bugs, no birds, just the ringing of the phone. My heart raced, and I searched the surrounding darkness with my gaze, terrified of what I’d see, but hoping for a glimpse of Alex.

“Micah?” A voice came through the line, close enough to Alex that I felt a momentary leap of joy that it was Alex, only to realize it was Lukas instead. The subtle difference in their tone a mild Southern drawl for Alex, and a more polished city edge in Lukas’s. I must have gone too long without answering, though I put the phone to my ear because Lukas said, “Micah? What’s wrong?”

“He’s gone,” I whispered, feeling the words whoosh out of me like I was a squeaky toy crushed underfoot. I dropped to my knees, suddenly unable to breathe. The weight of the idea of him being taken again enough to undo all my hard fought for calm.

Panic attack. Full loss of vision and air like a punch to my gut. Everything narrowed down to the frantic warning signal going off in my head.

I could barely make out Lukas’s words. A string of curses and the slinging of accusations. Things already racing through my mind that didn’t need help taking hold. I was really good at self-blame. Shouldn’t have taken him from home. Maybe if he was home with Lukas, he’d have been safe. Maybe if he’d never met me, he would never have been taken.

Then Sky’s soft voice filled the line.

“Micah, sweetie, breathe, okay? Count with me. Focus on my voice, breathe. One, two, three…”

I fought to suck in air and focused hard on her voice. It was the only thing grounding me in that moment, despite the fact that I was curled up in a ball on the warm pavement, in the middle of a parking lot, phone pressed to my ear. The wheezing draw of my lungs, eased a tiny bit, letting in cool trickles of air.

“That’s it, breathe,” Sky continued. I heard Lukas in the background somewhere still raging, though couldn’t make out his words. “I had a feeling both of you would have PTSD about Alex’s disappearance,” Sky said. “Can you tell me what happened? Keep breathing.”

“He’s gone,” I whispered, my heart feeling as though it had been ripped out and were laying in front of me, barely beating on the black pavement.

“Did he say where he was going? How long has he been gone?” Sky asked.

“Subway. But I’m there now. It’s closed. It’s been hours. I fell asleep.” Just uttering those last three words broke me. I hunched down and sobbed into my knees. I’d failed him again. He’d given me so much in such a small amount of time, and I’d failed him, let that thing take him. I’d walked around the last two years thinking I was finally healed from it all, above the pain. Except I hadn’t healed, had I? I’d just buried it all until Alex arrived and gave me a reason to plant seeds instead of bury memories. Fuck.

“Micah, sweetie, it’s okay. I need you to focus for me. Do a few things so we can find him, okay?”

“He’s gone,” I said again. “It took him again.”

Sky sucked in a breath hard enough I heard it over the phone. “Do you know that for sure? Did you see it?”

Like when he’d vanished on video? There one second, poof, gone the next. I remember those first few nights being home, sitting outside in the darkness, terrified, yet hopeful that he’d return. Only I’d been greeted with nothing but silence.

“No,” I said. “I fell asleep. I failed him.”

“You didn’t. It’s okay, we’ll find him,” Sky assured me, but she was hundreds of miles away. Lukas with her, one of the few people I would have trusted to take over the search. But he too had fallen apart the last time. “Lukas is going to try his phone. Do a trace. He set that up before you guys left. Has both of your phones set to trace.”