“The door!” Oliver screamed. “Brace the door!”

Dan and Jordan slammed into the door together just as the knob rattled and turned. The weight of one adult, then two, then three rocked back against them from the other side. Sabrina flew to the window, looking out into the street.

“Shit, there’s too many of them!”

“How many?” Oliver shouted back. He had disappeared behind the counter, tossing first a hunting rifle and then a baseball bat to Abby.

“Six, I think,” Sabrina called back.

“We can’t hold them,” Jordan grunted. Both he and Dan cried out as the back of a hammer cracked through the wood, showering them in splinters. “We really can’t hold them!”

“Lock it and run!” Oliver vaulted over the counter, taking the rifle from Abby and leaving her with the bat. “Go! I’ll hold them off while y’all get out the back.”

Dan didn’t need telling a second time. He had already thrown the deadbolt, but he jammed his hand against it again and turned the smaller lock on the knob, then grabbed Jordan and hauled him away from the door.

“Go!” Oliver took Sabrina by the arm and spun her around, pushing her toward the back door. She hesitated, but Abby pulled her through the curtain and into the storeroom. Fumbling for his phone, Dan managed to dial 911 with trembling fingers, his thumb hitting the call button just as the first rifle shot split the air.

“Who the hell was that?” Jordan yelled, following Sabrina, who had sprinted ahead to lead them safely through the side door. She ducked low as they ran, and the others did the same, flinching whenever another shot went off.

“I don’t know,” Sabrina replied. “Robbers ain’t stupid enough to come this early in the night.”

“Yes, I’d like to report a break-in,” Dan barked into his phone. “In progress. The address? It’s, um . . .” He tapped Sabrina on the shoulder and then thrust the phone into her hands. “Tell them where we are.”

The second the phone was out of his hands, Dan felt his courage collapsing. What if they made it outside only to be attacked there? The police would take a while to get there, more than enough time for Oliver to run out of bullets. The gunfire was too loud, too jarring, the sound tearing through his body and making his teeth rattle.

Sabrina paused at the back door, finishing the call and handing Dan back his phone. “Quiet. Let me check if it’s clear.”

Behind him, he could hear one of the girls from the séance crying. It was too dark, and he couldn’t see where the muffled little sobs were coming from. He could feel Jordan at his back and Abby ahead, tremors gripping her every few seconds while they waited for Sabrina’s signal.

Then they were out, and while the open air felt less claustrophobic, it also felt more vulnerable.

“How many bullets are in that rifle?” Dan asked, shuffling over to the edge of the building. He peered into the alley, breathing a sigh of relief when he found it empty. “We have to go back and help him somehow.”

“No, no way,” Jordan whispered, frantic. “I vote for run like hell.”

“Jordan’s right. What are we going to do with a baseball bat?”

“We can’t just leave him!”

Oh God, it was like Micah’s death all over again. Oliver wasn’t going to make it, and Dan would spend the rest of his life with the man’s death on his hands. Why did history keep repeating itself?

Maybe the others would run, but Dan was sick and tired of feeling hunted. He darted down the alley, not knowing or caring if his friends were following. There was no plan, not yet, but a plan would come when he saw what was left of the store. Sirens whined and grew louder, screaming in from the street to the right. The cops had mercifully arrived quicker than he’d thought. Clinging to the brick wall, Dan listened to the rifle shots cease, shortly followed by the sound of pounding footsteps.

That’s when he saw them: six masked figures, all sprinting across the avenue to the opposite sidewalk, and from there into a narrow alley.

Screw the plan. Keeping his distance, Dan chased after.