by Kieran Scott
“Okay,” he said, his voice low and calming. “Okay. It’s okay, I’ve got you.”
Hannah looked away from him toward the lake, until he reached up with one hand and turned her chin so she had to face him—had to look him in the eye.
“It’s okay, Hannah. We’re all here with you. No one’s going anywhere … obviously,” he said, and then chuckled drily. “Jacob’s dad is going to be home in the morning, right? All we have to do is make it through the next twenty-four hours.”
Hannah took in a shaky breath, then another, then a third that was far less shaky.
“Look me in the eye,” Colin said.
Hannah did. She locked eyes with Colin and breathed. His eyes were such a warm brown. And there were green flecks in them that she hadn’t noticed before. Something about the way he looked at her, looked into her, was riveting. The longer she stared, the faster her pulse raced, but in a good way this time. He was looking at her as if there was no other person, no other thing, in the entire world. He was looking at her like he wanted to kiss her.
Do it, she thought. Kiss me.
It came out of nowhere, and it was so inappropriate in that moment, she laughed out loud.
Colin smiled and hugged her to him. He looked back at the others. “I think she’s gonna be okay.”
Hannah didn’t add what the rest of them were all surely thinking: that they couldn’t say the same for Alessandra.
Dear Future Me,
OMG OMG OMG OMG I can’t believe what just happened. I’m sorry this writing is so horrible I just can’t I can’t I can’t.
Okay, I took some deep breaths and now I can sort of hold this pencil and write. I can’t believe what just happened. N caught me with S.B. Like CAUGHT me caught me. As in me and S.B. were making out in the park and N and his friends just sort of walked right up to us. I didn’t even realize they were there for, like, a good few seconds. I mean I noticed something shift in the light, but I was so into the kiss with S.B. that it wasn’t until R cleared his throat that I even looked up. And OMG the look on N’s face. It was horrible. I feel gutted just thinking about it. He looked like I’d reached into his chest and just ripped out his heart. Which I guess I kind of did.
The second I saw that look on his face, I knew. I’m in love with him. I’m totally in love with N. And there I was, sucking face with some Summer Person in the middle of our town. I think I sort of shoved S.B. away and jumped up. I honestly don’t really remember. The whole thing is a blur. But N told me off right in front of S.B. and all his friends and then he turned and stormed away. I didn’t even think about it—I just went after him. He was so angry and hurt he was actually crying. He told me S.B. was a jerk—I didn’t even know N knew him—but I told him it didn’t mean anything and that I was so so so so sorry, but he didn’t even seem to hear me. He just told me he never wanted to talk to me again and that was it. He walked off and I yelled after him and he didn’t even turn around or stop or pause or anything.
I think he really hates me and my heart is totally breaking. How could I have cheated on him? What was I thinking? He was hurting and sad and deep and sweet and I just stomped all over him for the first cute guy who showed up for the summer?
I’m a horrible person, Future Me. Are you still a horrible person? I really hope not. I really hope that, somehow, things get better.
PS When I got back to the park bench, N’s friends were all gone and so was S.B. I had to walk home alone in the dark and the whole time I felt like someone was following me—watching me. Probably just my paranoia, right? I’m being haunted by my guilty conscience? God, I just wish this night had never happened. I wish stupid S.B. had never come to this stupid town. I wish I could wake up from this nightmare.
Hannah’s eyes stung. They were dry from spending the last hour staring out the window at the lake. She kept telling herself to move. That this was unhealthy. That this was insane. But she couldn’t seem to make herself turn away. That monster was out there. It had murdered Alessandra, and she was the only one who had seen it. She was going to get a picture of the thing if it was the last thing her slowly dying cell phone ever did.
In her lap, she held the diary—she’d come to think of it as Claudia’s diary. She’d read one more entry in between her lake-watching vigil, and it hadn’t helped her feel any better.
Maybe Dad will just show up, Hannah thought. Maybe he would think it was weird that Hannah hadn’t texted him all day long and come up to see if something was wrong. And once her dad was here, everything would be all right. They could go to the police. They could try to find Alessandra.
But then, Hannah hadn’t been in touch with her dad all that much since she’d arrived at Jacob’s—for obvious reasons. So the chances of his driving all the way here were minimal. He thought his friends were here taking care of his daughter and stepdaughter. Why would he think anything could be wrong?
Hannah sighed and pressed her forehead to the cool windowpane.
The only positive in all of this was that Nick and Raj had left before they’d gotten stranded here as well. Hannah wasn’t sure she could handle being stuck at the house with Nick. Especially now that she’d read Claudia’s entry about him getting into that fight with “Summer Boy.”
There was a knock on the door, and Hannah blinked. She reluctantly looked away from the lake and quickly crammed the diary back into her bag.
“Yes?” she called.
The door creaked open. Katie stuck her head inside, her black hair swinging into view first, just before her face. “Hannah? Can I come in?”
Hannah shrugged. “Sure. It’s your room, too.”
Katie silently stepped inside and closed the door. “Can we … talk?”
“Sure,” Hannah said again.
Katie climbed onto the bed and scooted over, leaving room for Hannah to join her. Hannah didn’t move from the window.
“I have a question,” Katie began, running her fingers through her hair over and over again. “Last night … before everything happened … what did you see? I mean, when you were outside Jacob’s room.”
Hannah’s jaw clenched as she remembered the private moment she’d caught between Katie and Jacob. “Nothing.”
Silence. The way Katie was looking at Hannah got right under Hannah’s skin.
“Okay, fine. I saw you guys, like, holding hands or whatever,” Hannah blurted. She finally turned away from the lake, and her vision clouded over with purple splotches in the shape of the water, with a blank spot for Mystery Island in the middle. Her brain felt muddled—hazy. But the anger was pulsing through loud and clear. “You could have any guy you want back home,” she said, her arms clutching her elbows. “Why do you have to steal mine?”
“First of all, I cannot have any guy I want back home,” Katie replied. “Did you see me with a date to the spring formal? Um, no! There’s a reason me and my friends went as a group. And secondly, Jacob is not yours! Just because you knew him first—”
“Knew him since birth,” Hannah interjected.
“Doesn’t mean you guys are, like, destined to be together,” Katie finished. “I mean, doesn’t he get a say in anything?”
There was a long moment of silence as the two of them faced off. Hannah couldn’t believe they were even talking about this, what with them being trapped and Alessandra being, most likely, dead. Did any of this even matter? But if the pounding of her heart was any indication, it did.
“Come on, Hannah. You and Jacob have had sixteen years together and nothing has happened between the two of you,” Katie said, pushing herself off the bed to stand across from Hannah. “What does that tell you?”
Katie’s tone was so condescending it made Hannah want to tear out the girl’s vocal cords. But then the urge suddenly died, burning out as quickly as it had flamed up. Because what Katie was saying was true. How pathetic could Hannah be, pining after the same guy her entire life? Jacob had had half a dozen girlfriends and Hannah had gone out with exactly one guy on exactly one
date. In all that time, if Jacob had been interested in her, he could have said something—would have said something. It wasn’t like he was remotely shy.
“I really like him, Hannah,” Katie said quietly—pleadingly, almost. “And I think he likes me. We’d like to, you know, try dating. If we happen to get out of here alive.” She let out a wry, flat laugh. “But neither one of us wants to hurt your feelings or make you … uncomfortable.”
You already have, Hannah thought. But her heart wasn’t in it. Not anymore. Maybe she was exhausted after not sleeping all night. Or maybe she was just sick of being the girl who said no to everything. Outside, the rain kicked up again, lashing the window. Hannah wondered if, in an alternate universe, the sun was shining and she and Jacob were out there right now, water-skiing or swimming or sunning themselves on the dock. For a moment, she felt nostalgic for something that had never even happened. And then she brushed the thought away. It was time to deal with reality.
“It’s okay,” she said finally. “I mean, if you both like each other … it’s not like there’s anything I can do about it.” She took a deep breath. “You have my … blessing? I guess,” she said, then shrugged. “If that’s what you came in here for.”
It was going to suck, watching Katie and Jacob flirt. And hold hands. And … ugh … kiss. But the good news was, Jacob went through girls at a clip of about four a school year. If he and Katie had already gotten started, they were probably halfway to finished. Not that Hannah would be saying that out loud. It did, however, give her a slightly lighter feeling that she felt like holding on to—a little hope.
Not that she thought that she and Jacob would ever be together now. She couldn’t date him after Katie, because ew. But at least she had hope that she wouldn’t have to watch them together forever.
That was assuming, as Katie had said, that they even got out of there alive.
“Thank you,” Katie said. She kicked the toe of her sandal against the floor a couple of times, filling the awkward silence. “Besides,” she said, her expression changing as she smiled, “you know Colin has a thing for you. And he is totally hot.”
Hannah blushed. “No.”
“He’s not totally hot?” Katie teased.
“No! I mean, yes. He is. But he doesn’t have a thing for me. Just because he thought I was cute on Jacob’s phone doesn’t mean he likes me.”
“Oh, please. You’re so full of it,” Katie replied. “I didn’t see him asking me to go for a private stroll to check out the stars.”
Hannah knocked her fists together a few times just to have something to do with herself. “That was kind of nice. But how are we even talking about this? Alessandra is—”
Loud voices suddenly rose up from downstairs, cutting Hannah off.
“Forget it, Jacob! I’m going!” Prandya shouted.
Hannah and Katie exchanged an alarmed look and ran for the stairs. Colin, Jacob, and Prandya were all in the living room, and Prandya was shoving granola bars into the pockets of her hoodie.
“What’s going on?” Hannah asked as she reached the bottom step.
“I’m hiking home,” Prandya said, trembling.
Hannah’s heart gave a flutter. “Hiking? Is that even possible? I thought you couldn’t get anywhere without a boat.”
“You can’t,” Jacob said. “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell her.”
“I can do it,” Prandya said.
“How are you gonna get down the other side of the cliff?” Colin asked.
“You know who my father is. I’ve been certified in three different types of rock climbing,” Prandya said. “I’ll be fine.”
She started for the door and Jacob grabbed her arm. “Prandya, it’s pouring out. There could be rock slides … mudslides. What if you get hurt?”
Fear flashed through Prandya’s eyes before she lifted her chin. “I’ll be fine. If I stay here one more second I’m going to lose my mind.” She pulled her hood over her head and glanced around at them. “I’ll call the police when I get there. We have an emergency radio if our power is out. This will all be over soon.”
And with that she turned and walked out the door. Colin followed, letting the door close behind them, and Hannah could hear them talking in low, tense tones. After thirty seconds, he came back in, his face red and blotchy.
“Is she gonna be okay?” Katie asked quietly.
Colin lifted his shoulders. “There was no talking her out of it.”
“Someone should go with her,” Jacob said.
But nobody moved. Hannah knew they were all thinking the same thing. The only place they were safe was inside the house.
* * *
“What if we try the hill behind the house?” Hannah suggested later that afternoon. It had been hours since Prandya had left and there was no sign of her or the police. Or of Alessandra. The rain had stopped, but there were still no boaters out on the lake, and Hannah had never felt so isolated.
“Try it for what?” Jacob asked. He and Katie were out on the porch, playing catch with one of the battered baseballs. Hannah was attempting to read her mystery novel on the couch inside, the window open so they could all talk. Colin was preparing some food in the kitchen, and Hannah could hear the sound of a knife thunking against the cutting board at a steady rhythm as he made the salad. They hadn’t eaten all day.
Since there was still no electricity, the plan for dinner was to roast hot dogs out at the fire pit. Hannah did not like that idea. The fire pit was so close to the water, and she’d spent most of the day pretending the water wasn’t there, trying as hard as she could to concentrate on her novel and not think about Alessandra. She felt dread, though, knowing that nightfall was coming. Then reading wouldn’t even be a possibility for passing the time.
“For a signal,” Hannah said.
She tugged her phone out of her back pocket and checked the screen. She had about half her battery life left, but the words NO SIGNAL still stared back at her. The longer she went without talking to her dad, the more uncomfortable she felt. Her legs kept bouncing underneath her and she’d shifted her position about a million times in the last hour, the couch letting out an annoying creak every time she did so.
The thunking stopped and Colin appeared in the doorway to the kitchen, holding a rather large serrated knife.
“It’s not worth it,” he said.
“He’s right. There’s no signal anywhere on this side of the lake,” Jacob told Hannah, throwing the ball so hard the thwack reverberated from Katie’s glove. She pulled her hand out of it and shook out her fingers. Jacob winced. “Sorry.”
“I’ve had worse,” Katie shot back.
“Whatever. I’m gonna try,” Hannah said, pushing herself up off the couch. She grabbed her phone and walked outside. The afternoon air was thick and warm and she reached back to gather her hair off her neck and into a loose bun. “I’m going crazy sitting here anyway. I have to get some exercise.”
And it’s not like I can go for a swim, she added silently, with one glance at the water. For the millionth time, she saw Alessandra go under—heard her calling for help.
“I’ll be back,” she said as she walked around the side of the house.
“Good luck!” Jacob sang after her facetiously. “You’re gonna need it!”
“God, leave her alone,” Katie said under her breath, which made Hannah smile.
It was out of the ordinary, Katie having her back, and it felt kind of nice. Hannah sort of hoped her stepsister would throw a wild pitch and knock Jacob’s block off just for good measure—or maybe just bruise something. For the last couple of hours, everything Jacob did irritated Hannah, and she was starting to wonder if he’d always been this annoying or if spending an entire day with him without any electricity, and with that underlying current of fear, had brought out the worst in the both of them.
Swiping at mosquitoes and gnats, Hannah followed a skinny dirt path alongside the house. The world seemed to be turning grayer and grayer around her as the
sun went down somewhere behind all those clouds. She tried to avoid stepping in any muddy puddles in her flip-flops.
Up ahead, the path veered right, away from the house, and disappeared into the thick tree line. Hannah paused, something niggling at the back of her neck. Slowly, she turned around. From this slightly higher vantage point, she could just make out Prandya’s house in the distance, off to the north of Mystery Island. The windows were all lit up like a church on Christmas Eve and she could swear she heard a stray peal of jazz music carry across the water.
Hannah’s heart punched a hole in her chest. She’d thought Prandya’s parents were away and Raj was in town. If Prandya had managed to get home, then where were the police? And why did they have power, but Jacob’s house didn’t?
She looked down at her phone again. 48% battery power now. NO SIGNAL.
Hannah turned back toward the house. It wasn’t like she knew anything about electricity or how it got to homes or what made it work or fail, but it seemed weird that the very next house—even as far away as it was—had no problems.
When she reached the back corner of the house, Hannah noticed the black power lines snaking into a silver tube that ran down the rear wall. The silver tube ended at a big metal box, the door of which was dented and yawning open.
“That doesn’t seem right,” Hannah said under her breath.
She had taken one step toward the box when a figure stepped out of the shadows right in front of her.
Hannah was still screaming when she realized it was Colin smiling back at her.
“Calm down!” he said, putting his comforting hands on her shoulders. “Man, you’ve got good lungs.”
“You scared me!” Hannah’s hand was on her heart, still clutching her phone as she tried to catch her breath. The power lines were all but forgotten.
Her hair was falling into her eyes, and Colin reached up to brush a strand of it back. Hannah couldn’t tell for absolute certain because of the rapidly encroaching dusk, but she was pretty sure he was blushing.
