Everything was going well so far. They’d been in the woods almost an hour, and they’d nearly finished the vodka. Luke was having a good time. He and Pippa had the same Spanish teacher, although different periods. While Oscar and Kelsey made out, he and Pippa slowly moved closer and closer to each other on the log, laughing over the telenovelas Señor Diaz liked to assign for homework.
“The new one is on Netflix now. We should watch it together during study hall next week,” Pippa suggested.
“Shh!” whispered Kelsey hoarsely. “What was that?”
It was the third time she had thought she heard something. They all froze, and waited in silence. If there was one thing Luke had learned about sneaking out, it made you really paranoid. It also gave him an excuse to pull Pippa closer. He felt a rush when she leaned up next to him.
“Kels, it’s nothing,” Oscar said impatiently.
“One might think you were looking for a reason to go home,” Pippa told her.
Kelsey frowned. “Why would I do that? God. Excuse me for wanting to save all of our asses.”
“I think we can look after ourselves,” Pippa said. “And don’t forget, we have the Kidnapped Kid here.”
Luke winced. It had been a long time since someone called him that, at least to his face. Usually he went weeks, or even months, without ever thinking of what had happened to him three years ago, but now this was the second time tonight he’d been pulled back to that dark time. It made him uneasy. And worse: now he knew for sure that Pippa knew all about it too.
“Hey, that’s not cool, Pippa,” Oscar told her. “That subject is off-limits.”
“It’s okay,” Luke said.
“No, it isn’t,” Oscar insisted.
“I’m only saying out loud what everyone says behind your back. I wasn’t even on campus a single day before people told me about your history, Luke. How you were kidnapped and had to escape by—”
“Okay, moving on,” Oscar said. “He doesn’t—”
Oscar abruptly stopped. This time there was definitely a noise. At first, no one said anything, hoping it was another mistake. But then the sounds came again, unmistakably the soft sweep of footsteps crackling through the fallen autumn leaves. The velvety darkness was broken by splashes of moonlight, but the small glimmers were enough to illuminate the girls’ horrified faces. Pippa’s sharp features were a stark patchwork of dark and light.
“What was that?” she whispered.
Luke felt his body go cold. Were they about to get caught?
“I heard it too,” said Kelsey, her voice quavering with fear. She twisted her ponytail nervously and sunk deeper into her dark-blue Patagonia fleece jacket. “Oh my God, if I get busted, my dad will kill me.”
“It’s probably just some animal.” Oscar wrapped his arm around her. “No one knows we’re here, don’t worry.”
The footsteps snapped again through the crisp air. They all froze; the only sign of movement was their eyeballs flitting from left to right, trying to locate the source of the noise through the cracks of light. Was it a teacher searching for them? They had felt so safe curled in the darkness, but now it was proving a liability. They could hardly make anything out. Luke’s heart was thudding in his chest, and he began to sweat under his flannel shirt.
“I’ll go check it out,” said Oscar, rising.
Kelsey tugged at his jeans, attempting to pull him down. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. What if they see you?”
Oscar tipped his head and gave her a sideways smile, the one Luke had seen a million times. The smile that said No worries, everything will be fine.
“Better they see me than you, okay?” he told Kelsey. Kelsey, unsurprisingly, was not immune to his charm.
“Okay,” she whispered, dropping her hand.
“Dude, I’m not sure you should do this,” said Luke. The last thing he wanted was for Oscar to be the sacrificial lamb. Oscar had the most to lose out of all of them—it would be his last strike.
“Don’t worry about it. I’ve been here a million times before. I know my way around.”
Oscar brushed some bushes away and quickly disappeared into the night.
“What if Mrs. Chester did a bed check, realized we were gone, and came out to search for us?” Kelsey said. “Or what if someone saw us running across campus? We are so dead.”
“Guys, it’ll be okay,” said Luke without conviction. “It’s probably nothing.”
He felt along the cold, damp ground until he found the log to sit on again. His legs felt heavy, and he was increasingly uncomfortable in the small cave. The confinement was really starting to bother him. He rubbed the thin two-inch scar that ran along his right jawline, a remnant of that first night three years ago. Rubbing it was a habit he’d developed during times of stress. Over time it had flattened out, and now he could barely even feel the ridge. He could feel Pippa staring at him.
“Wait, what’s that barking?” asked Kelsey. Luke tensed up, not sure if he was reacting to the barking or to the fear in her voice. Where was Oscar?
“A dog, perhaps?” Pippa not-so-helpfully pointed out.
The dog’s agitated wail sounded closer and closer. No one spoke while the dog continued barking. Luke cocked his head to the side and listened. His whole body filled with dread. A dog. That made a third thing tonight that echoed his past. What was going on? He had to stay calm, make his senses focus on other things. He could hear Pippa’s labored breathing, smell the slight scent of her rose perfume.
The dog abruptly ran off. A minute passed in silence. Then two. The tension in the veiled darkness was oppressive.
“I’m cold,” whispered Kelsey.
Luke took his phone out to text Oscar. No signal.
“I think I’ll go check on him,” said Luke, but it was more than that. His heart was racing. Hearing the dog had made it impossible to push all the memories of that night—of his kidnapping—aside. He couldn’t sit still.
“Wait,” Pippa said. “Don’t go.”
“I don’t want to leave Oscar out there.” He started to pull himself up, but suddenly they heard voices.
“What did you want?” a woman asked.
Luke stopped dead in his tracks. He could hear Kelsey suck in her breath behind him. As carefully as possible, he turned and slunk down, feeling his way backward. Whoever was talking was right above them, but had no idea they were there. Luke put out his hand and gently pushed Kelsey and Pippa back, away from the edge of the Dip and farther into the pit underneath the wall. They ducked down until their backs were snug against the mossy stones. All they could see above were trees and shadows. And darkness.
“Just want to talk, that’s all.”
Luke couldn’t tell if it was a man or woman speaking. It sounded like a man, but if it was, he was speaking in a weird falsetto.
“Why are you talking like that?” asked the woman.
The wind started up again, sending leaves rustling along the ground and making the conversation indecipherable.
Luke and the girls waited, all three breathing hard, trying not to make a sound. Kelsey had grabbed his wrist tightly and was furiously digging her nails into him. Luke prayed Oscar wouldn’t stumble back and interrupt whoever was up there. He wondered if he should reach for Pippa’s hand, but she had wrapped her arms tightly around her chest and tucked her hands under her armpits.
“You’re crazy,” they heard the woman say when the wind momentarily died down.
The man’s response was muffled.
“We’re done,” she said. “How many times do I need to tell you?”
“But he’s wrong for you,” whined the man. Again, his voice sounded girlish and unnatural.
“Just leave me alone,” the woman said. “Please. That’s all I want.”
They heard footsteps through the leaves. Okay, good. Someone had walked away. Kelsey started to move forward as if to make a break for it, but Luke pulled her back and put his fingers up to his lips to shush her. He motioned upward with his shoulders, indicating that he thought the other person was still up there. They waited for what seemed like an eternity. Then suddenly they heard movement, footsteps, and it was clear the second person had left.
Luke counted his heartbeats, waiting to see how long before they could talk, and then the three of them exhaled, slumped to the ground, and collapsed into silent, heaving laughter.
“Well, whoever that was, they weren’t looking for us,” Luke finally said. “We’re safe.”
Relief washed over him.
“Who do you think it was?” breathed Pippa.
“I couldn’t tell,” Luke replied. “I was just glad they weren’t calling our names, and saying things like suspended or expelled.” Or worse, he wanted to add, but didn’t.
“I thought it was two women, but now I think one of them was a guy,” whispered Kelsey.
“I know. What was up with that?” Luke said. “He was talking like a freak.”
Suddenly there was another noise, sharp this time. “What was that?” asked Kelsey furtively.
Luke cocked his head, listening carefully. “It sounded, I don’t know, like a yelp.” It had come and gone abruptly, almost as if it didn’t happen.
“I didn’t hear anything,” said Pippa.
“You didn’t?” asked Kelsey. “I don’t know, it didn’t sound human. Maybe it was the dog.”
“I heard there are coyotes in these woods,” said Pippa.
“Coyotes?” Kelsey inched closer to Luke.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, Oscar jumped down into the Dip. Pippa and Kelsey shot back, startled, then the nervous laughter started again.
“Miss me?” asked Oscar, as casually as if they were all hanging out in Main Hall instead of the woods in the dead of night.
“What the hell, dude? Trying to freak us out?” asked Luke.
“Sorry. I’ve just been out there on my ass, waiting for Heckler’s wife to scram so I could climb back in here.”
“That’s who that was? Dean Heckler’s wife? The first wife or the second?” asked Luke. Dean Heckler was one of two deans at the school. There was Mr. Palmer, who was the dean of students, (always referred to as Mr. P.) and Mr. Heckler, the dean of faculty.
“Wait, both his ex-wife and current wife live here?” asked Pippa. “On campus?”
“Well, they both work here. I think the first Mrs. Heckler moved off-campus after everything. That’s the messed-up thing about boarding school faculty. They become entrenched. They don’t leave even after getting ditched for a newer and better-looking version,” explained Luke.
“With certain, shall we say…more impressive assets,” added Oscar, rounding his hands out in front of his chest. Kelsey yelped in mock irritation and swatted his arm.
“So which wife was it?” Luke asked again.
“Well, old Mrs. Heckler was up there with her dog—”
“His first wife?” asked Luke. “Weird. Who was she with?”
“I just told you. Her dog.”
“No, we thought we heard a guy too,” Kelsey said.
“Yes, there was definitely a bloke there,” insisted Pippa.
“Nothing gets by you guys, does it?” Oscar said. “Okay, this is where it got bizarre: both Mrs. Hecklers are in the woods tonight. The first one was here first. Wait, that sounded funny; I mean, that’s who we initially heard. She was walking her dog. Nearly gave me a freaking heart attack. The dog was totally on to the fact that I was hiding in the bushes. That’s why he was barking nonstop. Luckily, she thought he was flipping out over a squirrel and didn’t take the time to investigate. Otherwise, I would’ve been toast. But as I was about to come back, Heckler’s second wife showed up with a dude. They stopped right next to you.”
“We thought they’d find us for sure,” said Kelsey.
“So she was with Dean Heckler?” asked Luke. If the dean was out patrolling the woods, that was a big problem. If Luke had to choose a faculty member to find them, Dean Heckler would literally be last on the list. He was hard-core. It had never been confirmed, but there were rumors that he’d been in the military at some point, maybe even the CIA.
“No. In fact, one of the few things I heard the guy say was that her husband was a pretentious windbag. Honestly, I can’t argue with that. Seems like a pretty accurate description of Heckler to me.”
“If it wasn’t Heckler, then who was the guy?” asked Luke.
“I don’t know, couldn’t see him. She was facing me, he was blocked by a tree, and then he took off without her.”
“Couldn’t you tell by his voice?” asked Pippa.
“Nah, it sounded weird. Like he was pretending to be someone else.”
“You’re right,” agreed Luke. “We heard him, sort of. It was like he was talking in a fake voice.”
“Do you think we can go now? I really need to use the bathroom,” said Kelsey.
“Me as well,” said Pippa. Luke looked at Oscar.
“I don’t think we should risk leaving yet. Let’s give all those Heckler wives a minute to get back to campus. What if they run into each other and stop to have a catfight or something?” said Oscar. “How about you two go find a nice tree up there where you can do your business?”
“Fine,” said Kelsey. “I can’t wait anymore. I’m about to pee in my pants.”
She took a step forward and tripped, falling into Luke with a loud cry of alarm.
“Shh…” Everyone else hissed in unison.
“Sorry!”
Oscar bent down, and felt around on the ground. “It’s only a bottle,” he said, rolling it into the back corner, where it clinked against a rock. “You okay?”
Kelsey nodded.
“Good. Just be quiet out there, okay? We’ve made it this far. Let’s not get busted now.”
The girls scrambled out of the Dip.
“Dude, I was freaking out. I thought you’d gotten busted,” admitted Luke as soon as the girls left.
“The dog scared the crap out of me for sure, but luckily old Mrs. Heckler had no idea I was there. She seemed kind of scared, like the dog was trying to take off into the woods, and she was begging it to go back. I even heard her dragging it away.”
“Well, what about Heckler’s new wife? Do you think she saw you?”
For a few seconds, a strange look of derision twisted Oscar’s chiseled features. “No way. Joanna Heckler was pretty heated about something. Really pissed, talking harshly to the guy she was with. There’s no way she was paying attention to anything else.”
“Yeah, well, one word to her husband and we’re history.”
“Even if she saw me, she wouldn’t rat me out,” said Oscar confidently.
“You never know,” said Luke, suddenly exhausted. “Jeez, I’m done for tonight.”
The last of his adrenaline drained away, and all he wanted was to be under his duvet in bed. He had a long day tomorrow; classes, followed by soccer practice. A big game was coming up on Saturday. But things with Pippa seemed kind of cool; he felt a little glimmer of hope as he thought about hanging with her tomorrow after study hall.
“Hey. Do you still not like her?” Luke asked, breaking the silence.
“Who, Pippa? Yeah, that’s still a no. Did you hear her try to shut me down when I told her to stop talking about stuff that was none of her business? It shows she thinks she’s better than everyone,” said Oscar.
“Well, I’m not sure she thinks she’s better than everyone,” said Luke. “Maybe just you?”
“Fair point.” Oscar smiled, and took out his phone to check the time. “Man, it’s getting late.”
“I know. I’m beat.”
“Girls take forever going to the bathroom.”
“No kidding.” With three older sisters, Luke was no stranger to waiting for girls in bathrooms.
Oscar leaned back against the muddy wall and closed his eyes. Luke was tempted to do the same when he heard a rustling noise. This time it sounded closer than before.
Luke waited, hoping it was the girls so they could get out of there.
“What’s that? The girls?” hissed Luke.
“No. Sounds like…I don’t know, something sliding.”
It did sound like that. Almost like something was being pulled through the leaves.
“Should we go check it out?” asked Luke.
“Nah, the girls will think we’re spying on them.”
Luke listened again, but this time he heard nothing. Maybe one of the girls had been scraping the leaves to cover where they went to the bathroom? He didn’t know. It felt like minutes before Pippa slid back down to the Dip.
“Ready to leave?” asked Pippa. Her voice was back to being cold and sharp, having lost any of the friendliness Luke had thought he’d heard before. Great.
“Where’s Kelsey?” asked Oscar. Pippa didn’t answer.
“You didn’t leave her out there, did you?” asked Luke, concerned.
“What, was I supposed to hold her hand while we peed?” Neither boy wanted to address that.
“Did you sort of, I don’t know, kick the leaves around when you were out there?” asked Luke, finally.
“No, why?” asked Pippa.
“It sounded like someone was sweeping or dragging something; definitely heard a weird noise. It sounded man-made. Girl-made.”
“Well, I didn’t hear anything,” said Pippa.
“You didn’t hear anything? Do you have really bad hearing?” asked Oscar.
“No! What the hell? I went as far away as possible to pee so you guys wouldn’t have to enjoy the sound effects. And you’re the one who’s hearing all this stuff. It’s probably your imagination.”
Suddenly the branches were brushed aside, and Kelsey practically fell into the hole, shaking and out of breath. Her hair was frazzled, and she had leaves all over her fleece. “Shh!” she said, fairly aggressively. “Someone’s out there!”
“One of the Mrs. Hecklers?” Luke whispered.
Kelsey shook her head. “No! Someone else.”
“Kels, don’t worry. We’re fine. No one’s going to bust us,” said Oscar in his most assured voice. “It’s probably the guy Mrs. Heckler was with, and it seems like he’s got other things to worry about.”
“Oh yeah? Well, why would he be in the opposite direction? Behind the Dip?”
A chill went down Luke’s spine. Why would that guy have come back around? Had he seen them after all? But if he had seen them, why would he just be waiting and watching? Things were starting to get very weird. Luke didn’t like it. All his earlier nervous energy came roaring back.
“What do you mean?” asked Oscar.
“There’s someone else out there,” Kelsey hissed. “Someone just standing there, hiding behind a tree. He’s out there, watching us.”