Lies Never Sleep

by Stacy Claflin

  “Are you okay?” The officer gave him a look of concern, though it was probably a ruse.

  He rubbed his temples and closed his eyes. The air around him pressed on every side. “Just find my son.”

  “We’ll do everything we can.”

  “Please do. I can’t lose another child.”

  “Another child?” Zion asked.

  Morgan’s eyes flew open. He’d said too much.

  3

  Lila James

  * * *

  Lila caught sight of her reflection in Atlas’s mirror. She wiped more tears and picked up a stuffed bear that probably hadn’t been touched in ten years.

  “Where are you, Atlas?” She looked around the room and clung to the bear. Her heart pounded and her chest felt like it would crush her.

  The police had come and questioned them pretty intensely before looking around Atlas’s room and the rest of the house. They’d told her the best thing she could do was to stay home and wait by the phone. Then they left.

  It made no sense. She wanted to get outside and scream for him. Shout until her voice went raw, then disappeared altogether. He was her firstborn and would be her baby even when he had babies of his own. Her heart ached all the more thinking about how upset the twins were when they heard the news. Somehow she had to find a way to pull herself together for them when she was falling apart inside.

  There was nothing she could do for any of her kids. It was the worst kind of helplessness.

  How could anyone expect her to just sit and wait? They’d taken the names of every friend she and Morgan were able to think of at the time so they could talk to them at school. He was downstairs calling some of their parents now—all the kids were in class, except their son and Emmett.

  Lila’s stomach lurched at the thought of Emmett being missing, too. He’d been over so much, he was almost like one of her kids. They’d even brought him along on several vacations over the years. At least the boys had each other if something was wrong, and she had to hold onto the hope that they were just fine, as small as the likelihood was.

  But what had gone wrong? Why had they gone to some haunted house in the middle of the night in the middle of the week? Sure, they were young, and it probably seemed exciting. Lila had done plenty of dumb things herself when she was a teenager, but she’d always made it home safe and sound. She’d never put her parents through anything like this.

  She wanted to shake and hug Atlas at the same time. Maybe hug then shake. She’d give anything to have him back, even stop nagging him about the length of his hair. He could grow it out to his waist if he wanted for all she cared at the moment.

  The biggest bone of contention between mother and son was his shoulder-length hair. Why had she made such a big deal about it? It wasn’t like he kept it messy or dirty. He still took care of himself. Lila just thought it hid his handsome face.

  She looked up at the ceiling, trying to imagine Heaven—something she rarely put any thought into. “Please just bring him home safely. I’ll do anything. Anything!” Tears blurred her vision. “He can grow his hair out, get a nose ring, or whatever other crazy thing he wants to do. I don’t care. I just want my baby back!”

  Lila sat on the bed and sobbed into her hands, shaking. After some time had passed, she felt an arm around her. She leaned against Morgan and he held her, just rubbing circles on her back. It reminded her of old times. Really old times. When was the last time he’d held her? Or given her any sympathy?

  Once she got her sobs under control, she asked, “Has anyone seen him?”

  “No, but everyone promised to let us know if they do.”

  “What are we going to do? I can’t just sit around and wait. We have to do something! Has he ever mentioned a haunted house? Or has one of the girls?”

  “Like I told the police, the only thing I can think of is that old mental hospital near the edge of town. Kids always whispered rumors about it when I was a kid.”

  “Kids say it’s haunted?” Lila had grown up across the state, so she’d never heard much about the building. Barely even seen it because it was out of the way from anything else. “The one where a doctor killed some patients or something?”

  Morgan nodded. “I always heard he killed everyone there that night, staff and patients alike. People said he killed other patients along the way. That many were checked in, but nobody ever checked out.”

  Lila sighed. “That sounds like something Atlas would be interested in, but would he really go there?”

  “If Emmett did, he sure would.”

  Morgan was right. Those two kids did everything together, and whenever they got into trouble, it was always some idea his friend had cooked up. Atlas would just go along for the ride.

  Lila looked at her husband. “Should we go there?”

  “It’d be trespassing. We better let the police handle it.”

  “But Atlas could be there! What if he’s hurt? Any number of things could go wrong in a place like that. Something could fall on them, a rabid rodent could bite them, or they could even get cut by some dirty old piece of medical equipment! We have to go there.”

  “We could go there and look from outside the fence.”

  “That won’t tell us anything! We have to go inside.”

  Morgan put his hand on top of hers. “The police said they’re giving the case top priority. They know about the hospital. And they said an outside agency for missing and exploited children is going to help. The FBI might even get involved. We don’t want to be in the way of any of that. They’re the experts.”

  Lila wanted to punch him. “He’s our son! We have to do something.”

  “Can you think of anyone else to call?”

  “I don’t want to call anyone! I need to do something bigger. Like…” She let her voice drift off as she tried to think of something. “I could email and text everyone I know. Then hundreds of people would know in a matter of minutes. Maybe someone knows something that we never thought to ask.”

  He patted her hand. “If that would make you feel better.”

  “Don’t patronize me! That would reach hundreds of people at once.”

  “Then do it. We need to listen to the police. They’re the experts, and if they say staying here contacting people is best then that’s what we should do.”

  Lila had seriously married the most frustrating man on earth. She got up before she said anything she’d later regret, marched to her laptop, and typed out an email with shaking hands, keeping it as short as possible so everyone would read the whole thing. Then after she sent it, she copied it over to a text and sent it to every one of her contacts.

  In a matter of minutes, the home phone and both her and Morgan’s cell phones rang. Emails and texts came in at record speed. It was overwhelming, but at least word was getting out. Everyone they knew would know to keep their eyes open.

  She answered her phone and replied to emails and texts as she spoke with friends and family. Finally, she felt like she was making progress. Nobody knew where the boys were, but every one of them now knew to look. And if they each told a few people, and they told a few people, before long everyone in the city would be on the lookout.

  Someone would find her son. Or someone might know something. This was better than putting up posters. Actually, there was something that would reach even more. Social media.

  Lila went to every social media site she belonged to—and there were few she didn’t use—and re-pasted her email along with her favorite picture of Atlas and Emmett, both smiling widely at the neighborhood picnic over the summer. They’d just won the three-legged race and had been laughing when she snapped the photo.

  Her heart warmed, looking at the photo and reliving the moment. But then reality nearly crushed her as soon as she remembered why she was posting the picture.

  Replies, shares, and messages flooded her notifications, and new emails and texts were flowing in still. It was overwhelming, and far more than she could even attempt to respond to. But everyone
would understand. She was focused on trying to find her son.

  Morgan came into the room. “The police are here with a few more questions.”

  “Aren’t they supposed to be out there looking?” She frowned and closed her laptop. “It’s like we’re suspects.”

  “Family always are, until they get cleared.”

  “They have to know we had nothing to do with this!”

  “Then let’s prove it by being cooperative.”

  Lila got up and headed downstairs with Morgan. “I wish they’d just focus on finding the boys!”

  “Maybe something one of us says will help.”

  “I don’t see how, but I hope so.”

  Downstairs, the same officers from before sat at their table. The woman shook their hands again. “Officers are at the high school, talking to kids. Other agencies are going to assist us—I think we mentioned that before.”

  Lila and Morgan nodded.

  She continued. “Some of the officers at the school have looked into both Emmett’s and Atlas’s social media from other students accounts, and the boys were bragging about working on a video that they were sure was going to go viral and make them famous.”

  Morgan slapped his forehead. “That’s what this is about? A video?”

  “It makes sense,” Lila said. “Those two have been trying to become famous online for years.” She turned to the officers. “They started out recording themselves playing video games, then they moved to doing challenges—though nothing dangerous and stupid like the laundry-detergent-eating thing, and now they must be trying to find ghosts.”

  The woman officer nodded. “Can you show me their channels, so we can see these videos?”

  Lila pulled out her phone. “They share a channel so they don’t have to compete for followers.” She quickly found it then handed her phone to the officer. The boys had uploaded over a hundred videos since Lila had last looked, but she didn’t want to admit that to the police.

  They played the most recent videos, and sure enough, both Emmett and Atlas were talking about an upcoming video that would be so much better than the other ones.

  “Did you catch that?” asked one of the officers.

  Lila looked at him. “What?”

  “Atlas said it would be released today. They had to have been working on that video last night, because the latest video was uploaded yesterday afternoon.”

  Morgan cracked his knuckles. “Has anyone gone to the abandoned mental hospital?”

  “We need to get the warrant from the judge.”

  “For an abandoned building?” Spittle flew from Morgan’s mouth. “Where two kids could be hurt?”

  “Sir, please calm down,” said the woman officer. “It’s privately owned property. We have to follow protocol.”

  “Missing kids are more important!”

  “Yes, but we have no proof that they’re actually there. We need a search warrant to check the premises.”

  Morgan muttered under his breath.

  “It’s top priority. The warrant should go through soon.” She glanced down at her pad of paper and flipped through the pages. “Before we leave, I have one more question for you, sir.”

  He looked like he wanted to strangle the woman. “What?”

  “Across the street, you mentioned that you didn’t want to lose another child.”

  Lila snapped her attention toward her husband. Another child? They only had three kids, and none of them had ever been in any danger before.

  “I said I didn’t want to lose a child.”

  All three police shook their heads. The woman stared at him. “No, you said another child. I heard it and so did your friend, and we need you to tell us about that other child.”

  Lila couldn’t find her voice. She wanted to know what her husband had meant, too.

  Morgan’s expression tensed.

  The room was silent. Lila could only hear the sound of her own heartbeat.

  “Sir?”

  “Give me a minute!”

  Lila jumped at his outburst.

  Morgan drew in a deep breath. He glanced at her before turning back to the officers. “I was married before. We had a baby that we lost to SIDS. It tore us apart, and we divorced shortly after. Losing the baby was the most painful thing I’d ever experienced. I swore I’d never talk about it.” He turned to Lila. “That’s why I never told you. I was young, and it’s in the past. It has nothing to do with us or our life together.”

  Lila blinked a few times as she attempted to process the news. Morgan had been married before and had had another child. And he’d never once thought that was important enough to mention to her.

  “When?” It was the only word that found its way to her tongue.

  He took a deep breath. “It was right after high school. She got pregnant, so we got married. That was the only reason, otherwise we never would’ve married—not then, not ever. After the baby died, things got ugly. We divorced before we ended up hating each other.”

  Lila tried to hold her shaking hands still. “You keep saying the baby. Was it a boy or girl?”

  Morgan swallowed. “Boy. Seven weeks old.”

  “What was his name?”

  He looked away. “Morgan.”

  “That’s why you didn’t want us naming Atlas after you?”

  Morgan turned back to her. “At least he has a much cooler name. He’d get picked on as Morgan. Trust me, I know from experience.”

  “I can’t believe you never told me.” Lila stormed from the kitchen and locked herself in their bedroom.

  4

  Brielle Harrison

  * * *

  Something hard hit the side of Brielle’s head. She snapped her head up from the desk and glared in the direction from where the object had come.

  A mousy girl in glasses whose name Brielle could never remember held up her hands and mouthed, “Wasn’t me.”

  Jackson, the cocky quarterback, snickered from behind her. Now it made sense. He’d been picking on Brielle since kindergarten, but things had gotten worse since Brielle’s mom had died. That was when people started calling her goth girl. She hadn’t been gothic, at least not at the time. She’d been wearing black because she was in mourning. Now the dark colors were part of her identity. Part of her. In a way, it kept the memory of her mom alive. Oh, how she missed her mom. Even more on days like today.

  Brielle focused on the front of the room, where the math teacher was droning on about some kind of equation. Normally, she had a hard time focusing in this lame class, but today was even harder.

  She rubbed her temples and closed her eyes.

  “Miss Harrison.” Mr. Montgomery’s voice grated on Brielle’s last nerve.

  She opened her eyes but didn’t say anything. Her blank stare probably looked drug-induced, and that would only give Jackson more reason to make fun of her.

  “Are you going to pay attention today?”

  Snickers sounded around her. Jackson was the loudest.

  Brielle took a deep breath and somehow managed to keep her voice steady despite her shaking hands. “My two best friends are missing. Not to be rude, but do you really think I care about math at the moment?”

  His expression tensed, but then softened. “Perhaps you’d benefit from visiting the school counselor.”

  A few kids giggled. Someone kicked her chair.

  “Sure, sounds good.” Brielle stuffed her notebook into her bag and marched out of the classroom, her head held high. She also shot icy stares to the people she thought had laughed at her before stepping into the hall. They gave her obscene gestures in return, and Mr. Montgomery either didn’t see or ignored them.

  Once in the hall, her shoulders slumped and she leaned against the nearest locker, letting her bag fall to the ground.

  All morning it had felt like reliving the day her mom had died. The flashbacks were relentless. The pain fresh again. Some days were harder than others, but this morning was the worst—and she didn’t even have her best friend
s to emotionally vomit on about this. For guys, Emmett and Atlas were easy to talk to. It wasn’t like she didn’t have other friends, but it just wasn’t the same. Atlas and Emmett knew her better than anyone else.

  Ms. Johnston walked her way. “Aren’t you supposed to be in class, Brielle?”

  She picked up her bag. “Mr. Montgomery thought I should see Mrs. Blackwell. My two best friends are missing, did you know that?”

  The teacher froze but then quickly recovered. “I heard about that. I’m really sorry. I hope they come back soon.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Hurry along. Do you want me to escort you to the office?”

  Brielle shook her head. “I’m going to stop at the bathroom first.”

  She ran off before the teacher could say any more. Maybe going to school hadn’t been a good idea. But she’d been so eager to get away from Atlas’s dad, who had been grilling her for information.

  In the bathroom, she studied her reflection in the mirror. Her eyes were red, and her eyeliner and mascara were smudged at the corner of her eyes. That was all it would take for kids to make fun of her even more.

  What haunted her was seeing her mom looking back at her. Everyone always said Brielle looked just like her, but now that she was getting older, she herself could see it, too. It made breathing hard at times. Looking into the mirror impossible.

  It was so unfair that she had to grow up without her. A girl needed her mom, and the Harrisons had two girls without their mom. Topaz, Brielle’s younger sister, didn’t miss their mom in the same way. She could hardly remember her because she’d been so young when Mom had died. But Brielle remembered everything in vivid detail, including every detail from the day her dad had told them about her death.

  Footsteps sounded from the bathroom’s entrance. Brielle jumped, then washed her hands, eager to get out without having to talk to anyone.

  Layne Zander walked in. She burst into tears as soon as she saw Brielle. “Do you think they’re okay?”