by Gwen Cole
The look on his face gave me the answer. Reid’s gaze unfocused instantly, looking for his friend, and I feared the worst.
“I can’t find him,” Reid whispered and then he tried again and again.
Whoever these people were, they were finding drifters way too fast. Reid looked visibly nervous, and I didn’t know what to do or how to make it better. I took his hand and he squeezed mine back.
Gavin put a hand on Reid’s shoulder. “We’ll find him. Where does he live? We’ll start there.”
Reid took a moment to refocus and answered the question. “He’s got a few places, but he was in Tokyo earlier tonight, so he’s probably staying there.”
“Let’s go.”
Reid glanced at me, worry etched in every corner of his face. “We’ll find him,” I said.
He took a deep breath, took Gavin’s hand in his other, and drifted us away.
REID
TOKYO, JAPAN
I FIRST MET JAKE TWO YEARS BEFORE MY PARENTS died.
When you’re young, you like to do things without your parents knowing. Like sneaking out of the house. Going to the movies when you promised you’d be at a friend’s house. Sometimes spending money on things they told you not to buy.
So the drifter’s equivalent to that was, of course, drifting somewhere when your parents told you to stay home. I decided to check out the Gold Coast in Australia, mostly because I saw it in some movie I watched.
I liked it better when Jake told the story because he always had a good visual of me standing on the beach. He always said, “He was totally out of place, wind still in his hair, the whole deal.”
It was true—I was very out of place and definitely not dressed for the beach.
Then I saw this guy coming out of the waves, surfboard under his arm, like some sort of movie scene. I was starstruck, like most kids are when they see someone older than they are, looking cool and doing cool things.
Then Jake asked, “You wanna try to surf?”
I couldn’t even believe he was talking to me, let alone offering me his board. I stripped off most of my clothes before he could change his mind. I tried, and failed, and once when I was falling off the board, I accidentally drifted back onto the beach.
All Jake said to me was, “Next time, trying drifting back on the surfboard.”
It was like he already knew me, inside and out.
And after all this time, I had never bothered staying in his apartment in Tokyo, not even once.
I still remembered the day he showed it to me, all excitement and smiles. He was waiting for me to get excited, too, and was left with only disappointment. After everything that had happened, it was hard for me to find joy, even for him.
After he had taken me on the mini tour of the living area, the kitchen, and the master bedroom, he showed me the guest room. He never actually asked, but I knew what he was doing.
He was saying, I’ll always have room for you.
How had I been so blind? So . . . ungrateful? Yeah, I didn’t like how he got the money, but his heart was always in the right place. Yes, I was depressed, but he was always there for me.
He probably cared more than I’ll ever know.
I didn’t deserve him.
Now he was gone.
Dishes were broken in the kitchen, the TV was smashed, lamps were shattered on the floor, and there was no sign of anyone.
I left Sam and Gavin in the living room to go examine the door, checking for forced entry. Since Jake never actually used the door, he always kept it locked.
It was like nobody had touched it since he first bought the place.
I turned back to the room, something itching in the corner of my thoughts. Sam stood in the living room, piece of paper still in hand, looking a bit lost, and Gavin had wandered off to look in the bedrooms.
I studied the apartment, a certain thought still lingering, one I didn’t want to believe was true. There had obviously been a fight in the kitchen, the way everything was broken, and there were drops of blood on the sink.
Another fight had taken place in the living room, particularly in the corner, where the TV was broken, along with a lamp and an overturned chair.
I glanced around the apartment more, searching.
Gavin came out of the master bedroom and, upon seeing my face, he asked, “What is it?”
“Was there anything wrong in the bedroom?”
He shook his head but then said, “Looks like there was a fight in the bathroom, though.”
“But nothing in the bedroom?”
Gavin glanced behind, finally shaking his head, shrugging. “Not that I can see. Why?”
I had to make sure, but everything I saw was pointing toward it. I couldn’t ignore it.
“Reid?” Sam asked.
For a moment, I didn’t say anything, thinking, or maybe hoping, I was wrong. Then I said, “I think another drifter is taking them.”
Sam let out a sharp breath and Gavin asked, “Why?”
They waited for me to answer, and I was more certain now that I had said it aloud.
“Because everything in here points to it. There were three separate fights in this apartment, and yet nothing was touched between those areas.”
Sam asked, “What if it was just Jake doing the drifting?”
“It’s a possibility, but I don’t think so. There was no forced entry and all the locks are still in place. And—” I paused, wondering why I hadn’t seen it before. Why hadn’t anyone seen it before? “Who best to find other drifters . . . than another drifter? Think about it. Sliders are good at fighting us, sure, but would they be able to go halfway around the world catching drifters in a matter of days? Drifters are the only ones who can find other drifters . . . one of our own kind could become our worst enemy.”
Gavin swore silently and Sam said, “So while everyone thought the sliders were our only enemies, it’s actually another drifter?”
“It’s the only thing that makes sense, right? Who else could find drifters who were in hiding? Jake has multiple houses around the world, so who else would know he was here at this moment unless they could see him?”
Was I even making any sense? I took a deep breath and sat on the couch. Everything smelled like Jake, like his Tide laundry detergent and the same expensive cologne he’s always used, and if I thought about him too hard, my throat tightened. Every moment I didn’t take with him suddenly felt like too many.
The view was a good distraction. Jake knew what he wanted in an apartment: expensive furniture and a good view.
Sam sat down next to me and said, “I think you’re right.”
Gavin came over, righting the toppled chair across from us, and took a seat. “So do I,” he said, leaning his elbows on his knees.
It was weird having him there—but in a good way. I wouldn’t have known what to do if he wasn’t.
I said, “So what do we do about it?”
Sam answered, smiling, “If it’s one drifter, they’re already outnumbered. Let’s just focus on finding them first.”
I didn’t know how she was staying so calm—her whole family was missing. And there I was, missing one friend and I was on the brink of a breakdown.
But with Gavin and Sam sitting there with me, I wasn’t alone.
Even though I could be anywhere in the world, I was content being there with them, sitting in Jake’s broken living room and trying to be helpful. So many years I avoided being in this world full of people like me because it always reminded me too much of my family.
But sometimes family isn’t blood. Sometimes it’s your brother from another country, just trying to make you feel like you belonged.
I cleared my throat and asked, “What’s the next name on the list?”
Sam unfolded the paper and I leaned over to look at the names. I saw mine right away, not too far down from Jake’s, and she glanced over at me, like she’d already seen it and didn’t want to tell me.
Sam said, “The next person is Sabrina Cor
tés.”
“I’ve met her,” I told them. “A few days ago, she was talking to Jake. They were trying to figure out who was behind all this when they thought it was still the sliders.”
“Can you find her?”
I quickly did and said, “She’s in Venezuela, near the coast.”
Gavin stood. “Then let’s go before it’s too late.”
SAM
CHIRIMENA, VENEZUELA
GOING FROM NIGHT, TO MORNING, TO NIGHT again was a bit disconcerting. I’d never been to a jungle before, obviously, and there I was, in a jungle in the middle of the night, listening to animal sounds I didn’t recognize and the swell of the ocean not too far off.
There was a small house in front of us, the windows glowing softly with light, and Reid was already heading toward it. Gavin gave me this look that said, I guess we should follow him. So we did.
Reid knocked on the door and a voice yelled from inside.
“This is private property!”
He yelled back, “It’s Reid! Jake’s friend!”
There was a pause, footsteps, and then the door opened. The woman was really pretty and had very fierce-looking eyes, like she’d punch someone if the moment called for it.
“Yeah, I remember you,” Sabrina said. “What are you doing here?”
She glanced over at me and Gavin, but when Reid said, “Jake was taken,” her eyes snapped back to him.
“How do you know?”
“Because I can’t find him and his apartment was trashed.”
There was a long moment of silence as she took us all in, probably wondering if this was some sort of joke. But when her eyes finally settled on Reid, her mind was mind up.
Sabrina stepped outside, now looking more worried than a moment ago. She folded her arms across her chest like she had gotten a sudden chill, but it wasn’t cold. It was actually really warm, and I was wearing a jacket I wanted to take off.
“So he’s really gone? Like the others?” Sabrina asked.
“Yeah, but that’s not all,” Reid said. “I think another drifter is the one taking them.”
Sabrina only seemed partially surprised to hear it, and she actually nodded. “We were starting to suspect but didn’t have any proof. So what are you doing here? If another drifter is coming, you’d better make more slider friends like that one,” she said, nodding to Gavin. “Before it’s too late.”
She actually started to turn away, but Reid said, “We have reason believe they’ll be coming for you next. We came to warn you.”
She had very little reaction to that and shrugged. “And then?”
I finally spoke up, “We’re trying to help you and you’re acting like none of this matters.”
Sabrina’s eyes slid to mine, more callous than before.
“Does it? We tried to fix this before and look where it got us.” She dipped her head a moment and took a breath. “Look, I’m sorry. It’s just . . . I’m not sure how anyone can help at this point. We haven’t even found out where they’re being taken or who is taking them. I doubt three teenagers can do it.”
Gavin grumbled, “Ouch.”
“But at least we’re trying,” Reid said.
Sabrina let the door slam behind her and took a step closer. “And where were you when Jake asked for help before? It seems to me you’re only interested now that Jake is gone.”
I didn’t have to see his face to know her words hit him hard.
“Maybe,” he admitted. “But now that I’ve started, I won’t be giving up.”
“This might take you a few years to understand, but sometimes giving up means staying alive.”
“But what is it worth? Your friends? Your f—” Reid stopped like he wasn’t sure he wanted to say it. He finally whispered, “Your family?”
Sabrina said, “Everyone has to make their own decisions and live with that. They’re your choices . . . nobody else’s. It’s up to me what I can live with.”
“So you’re fine just giving up and hiding away in this cabin until you have no more friends or family left? I’m sure they’re on the list somewhere. You’re okay with doing nothing?”
“Maybe.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“And I don’t have to give you one!”
I was afraid I would actually see Sabrina punch him, but then something whispered into my ear, a sound I’d come to know and love. I glanced around and saw nothing but dark jungle.
“Stop,” I said, searching the dark. Something in my voice must have tipped them off because they actually did. Shadows moved under the trees, and the wind was too loud, rustling the branches, to hear anything else. But I knew what I had heard. It couldn’t have been anything else.
I said, “I think they’re here.”
Everyone stood silent, listening. I stepped off the porch and closer to the trees where I thought I’d heard it.
Someone stepped out of the shadows.
It was a guy, maybe in his mid-twenties, and he didn’t look like some villain who was taking people. He just looked . . . normal. Except for the gun in his hand—not normal.
Sabrina’s voice echoed from behind. “Kiato? What are you doing here?”
Kiato glanced at us and then Sabrina and then he said, “I’m sorry.”
He raised the gun at someone over my shoulder and pulled the trigger before I could react, but instead of a loud gunshot, it was a soft, almost muted sound.
I looked behind me, and Gavin was already a blur coming toward us. Then he was less a blur and more of a fuzzy figure, then he was just himself, staggering. He looked down to the red tranquilizer dart in his shoulder.
I let out a breath. “Gavin.”
I caught him by the arm as he dropped to a knee, his gaze already becoming unfocused.
“Kiato, please don’t do this,” Sabrina called to him. “Whatever it is, whatever is happening with you—”
“Nothing you say can change this,” he said. “I have my orders.”
“Orders from who?” Sabrina asked, half desperate. “What do they want with any of us? What do they want with me?”
Then Kiato paused and said, “I’m not here for you.”
He looked at Reid and my breath caught again, not knowing what I should do.
Kiato put away his gun and drifted. Reid was quick, drifting away before Kiato could touch him. Next, they were in a standoff with each other. I remembered watching Reid at the fight club, but that was against a normal person. How would he do against another drifter?
Kiato came at him and Reid sidestepped, but Kiato was ready for him this time. Both of them disappeared in the scuffle and then reappeared again next to the forest edge, throwing punches. They drifted again, appearing in the middle of the clearing, their fight never stopping.
Gavin slouched farther to the ground and I let him, more worried about Reid because Gavin wasn’t in the same amount of trouble.
Making sure Gavin was safely on the ground, I stood, watching Reid and Kiato fight it out. When I saw a good opportunity, I drifted behind Kiato and grabbed the back of his jacket to pull him off Reid. He stumbled backward and glared at me, both surprised and mad about the interruption.
“Sam.”
I looked at Reid, at the small cut above his eye, at the corners of his mouth that I was waiting to turn up into a smile. Between the both of us, we could do it—we could beat him together and find out where my family was.
I could see it all lining up perfectly.
The air changed over Reid’s shoulder and Kiato appeared behind him, grabbing him from behind. And before I could reach out for him or help . . . they were gone.
They didn’t reappear.
Gavin finally woke up when the sun was just starting to rise. Sabrina only had one bed—which we put Gavin on—and then she let me stay on her couch. And even though I didn’t think I would be able to sleep after everything that happened, I did.
Gavin and I were drinking black coffee at the table when Sabrina joined us, sme
lling like sand and salt after talking a walk on the beach.
“I thought you would have left by now,” Gavin said to her.
“We may have gone into hiding, but we aren’t cowards. And what’s the point of leaving if he’s not after me? And it’s not like I can hide anyway.”
I said, “The list was wrong, then.”
The list was wrong and Reid was taken, and not even someone as skilled as Sabrina could find him. It could only mean one thing—he was with the others. He had to be; I didn’t believe they were all dead. Why would they bother taking them if they were just going to kill them?
Gavin said the only thing on my mind. “So how do we find them?”
I had no answers, and Sabrina just shook her head. How were we going to find them without any idea where to look?
“Who’s this Kiato guy?” Gavin asked Sabrina.
“I knew his sister through a friend. I have no idea what he’s gotten himself into, but I know he’s not a bad person. I never would have imagined it was him doing all this.”
“So this sister, can you find her?”
Sabrina’s eyes unfocused and she immediately swore, slamming the table with a fist. “It’s the same as the others—nothing.”
“There’s got to be something else we can do. We need another piece of information. There has to be something we’re missing,” Gavin said.
I thought about Knox and how he and Dad used to be friends. Did Dad have any idea what was happening? Were they actually going on a trip for their anniversary, or was it all a cover-up for trying to figure out who was taking drifters? How many people were trying to figure this out before they had disappeared one by one?
“I’m going to go home,” I announced, and before Gavin could freak out, I continued, “My parents have a study there, and maybe they left behind some clues to where they were going last weekend because I doubt they were actually taking a vacation with all of this happening. Maybe we could retrace their steps.”
Gavin thought about it. “It’s a place to start at least.”
“While you guys do that,” Sabrina said, “I’m going to track down the rest of Kiato’s family and see if I can find anything useful. It might be a dead end, but . . .”
