Captivate Me (Book One: The Captivated Series) (23 page)

More than you
know
. Remembering my dream, I swallowed
hard. “Does that mean Gabe could be in danger?”

“Is it stronger at times than at
others?”

“It’s always been pretty
strong.”

“But consistent?”

“Yes.”

“Then maybe everything’s okay. You
just have a strong connection.”

God, I hoped she was right.

“And that’s a good thing, Kat,” she
assured me.

I tried to breathe a sigh of relief,
but with my dream last night, I wasn’t so sure. “So you’re happy
about this?” I asked. “That I’ve already fallen for someone so
hard?”

“The motherly part of me wants to tell
you to wait and be cautious,” she said. “But the romantic in me is
overjoyed. If I could have met your father at a younger age and had
more human years with him, I would have taken it in a
heartbeat.”

I’ll take it.
“And mom?”

“Yes, d-”

The phone beeped. Another
call.
Crap.

“You mind holding a second? I’m
getting another call.”

“Sure.”

I clicked over, and it was a message
from the Principal. “All students are to report to the auditorium
immediately. Make sure you walk in pairs. That is all.”

I clicked back over. “Mom? I have to
go. I’ll call you later.”

“Okay, d-”

Silence.

“Mom?”

I banged the handset. Nothing. We must
have gotten disconnected.

Anna emerged from the bathroom all
made over. I, however, would have to go looking like I’d just
rolled out of bed. “Get your shoes on, girl,” I said. “We’re going
to the auditorium.”

* * *

We stopped by Sarah and Ivy’s room on
the way, but it was empty. I tried not to let it worry me – they
were probably already down in the auditorium saving seats – but I
couldn’t shake the worry my dream had left.

“You okay, girl?” Anna asked, eyeing
me as we scampered down the stairs. I had thrown on a sweatshirt
and a pair of faded jeans and had pulled my uncombed hair into a
bun. Not my finest look, I know, but jeez, did I look that
bad?

“I’m good. Overslept.”

She grabbed the crook of my arm,
pulling me to a stop, classmates whizzing down the stairs all
around us. “I mean in general. You look… stressed.”

You have no
idea.

“I’m concerned.”

Once again, I had to lie.
I hated this new trend. Friends weren’t supposed to lie to each
other. “I’m just feeling under the weather, I guess.” I threw in
some honesty for my own conscience. “And this Jillian thing really
has me freaked out.”
And my dream last
night, and breaking Levi’s heart, and possibly being hunted by
witches, and breaking the news to my parents about everything, and
having to leave you guys behind… and and and.

She pulled me into a tight hug. “I
know. I’m scared too.”

“Keep it moving,” we heard a female
officer say.

Anna’s sympathetic caress
made my eyes well.
I’ll miss you, Anna –
my new friend that I didn’t have near enough time with.
I reminded myself of what Iris had said so I
didn’t burst into tears – I’d still be able to visit my friends for
a while. Until they realized I wasn’t aging. “Thanks,” I said
through a tight throat, and we started on our way again.

* * *

Despite the massive throng
of students filling every seat in the auditorium, I could have
heard a pin drop. This impromptu meeting at such an odd hour of the
day had everyone on edge. As we made our way toward Ronnie and Levi
at the end of a row, we passed two officers escorting Ivy and
Dawson out. Dawson’s face was fresh with despair, and Ivy flashed
me a desperate look turning my blood to ice.
Oh, no… Sarah.

My knees weakened, and I was barely
holding it together. I almost followed after them, but decided
against it; Principal Hughes, who was looking worse for the wear,
had already taken the stage and was calling everyone’s attention.
By the time Anna and I had made it to our seats beside the boys,
Ronnie had moved to allow me to sit by Levi. Levi must not have
told him. Yet. I tentatively sat beside him, not sparing a glance
for fear of what I would see if I looked him in his eyes – anger,
devastation. I couldn’t have handled either right now. He allowed
my presence, and that was more than I could have asked
for.

My thoughts boomeranged
back to Sarah.
Please,
I prayed.
Let her be
okay.

“It’s with a heavy heart today,”
Principal Hughes began. “That I’m announcing the temporary closing
of Midland Pines.” He paused, wiping his gleaming forehead with a
handkerchief. It was now even quieter, if that were possible.
“Three more students have gone missing since last
night.”

Gasps filled the room, a whir of noise
pulsating against my ear drums. Or maybe it was my heartbeat. I
stared blankly at our Principal’s clammy, tired face.

“I want to assure you, though, that
we’re doing everything in our power to keep you all safe. More
officers are on the way to ensure this until we can get you all
safely home. We plan on contacting your parents as soon as the
phone lines are back in working order.”

The phones are
down?
Remembering my phone going silent
earlier, dread knotted my stomach. This wasn’t good.

“We hope to have you home by Friday at
the latest. And obviously, the game tonight has been cancelled,
along with the dance.”

Friday. That was two days
away. How many more students would go missing? I then wondered if
witches could have anything to do with this – the dead phone lines
and missing students. But Kai had said I was the only half-breed
here. What other horror was wreaking its havoc? Whatever it was, I
didn’t want to stick around to find out, but leaving my friends now
– in this darkest hour – seemed a selfish thing to do. Anna would
crumble if I left her alone. What other option did I have? I could
either stay and pray my prophetic dream didn’t come to fruition, or
leave and worry about my friends until they evacuated the school.
Maybe I could convince the others to help somehow. Maybe there was
something they could do – an enchantment or a spell of
protection.
Anything
was better than doing nothing.

“That is all,” Principal Hughes
concluded. “Please make your way back to your rooms, and keep the
missing students in your prayers.”

What?
They weren’t going to tell us who they were?

A teacher whispered in his
ear.

“Oh, sorry. Yes. The missing students
are Heather Stroud, Jose Velasquez, Christian Lucas…”

Please don’t say Sarah
Larson. PLEASE don’t say Sarah Larson!

“…
and Sarah Larson. Keep
them in your prayers.”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

___________________

Seeking Help

I awoke to Anna sitting on the edge of
my bed, stroking my hand, her eyes focused and weary. When my eyes
groggily met hers, she breathed a sigh of relief.

“How did I get here?” I asked. The
last thing I remembered was her squeal.

“Levi carried you,” she said. “You
passed out after Principal Hughes said “Sarah Larson.” Her voice
broke on Sarah’s name.

“Oh.” Unsurprised I had passed out, my
gaze moved to the ceiling; how much pain could one’s heart take in
the span of a day? Mercilessly, the pain rushed back in, and a
deep, gut-wrenching sadness rose inside me to the point of bubbling
over in the form of tears. What good were prophetic dreams if I
couldn’t act fast enough to do anything about them?

Anna said nothing, her own tears
trailing down her face. “Where do you think she is?” she choked
out.

I fought back the image of Sarah being
tied up and tortured. “I don’t know, girl.”

Anna wiped her tears and made her way
to the bathroom. “I’ll be right back.”

As soon as she shut the door behind
her, I realized this was my chance. Lying here and crying wouldn’t
bring Sarah back. I needed to find Iris and the others to see if
they could help.

Taking care to be as quiet as
possible, I scribbled a note for Anna.

I’ll be back. Don’t worry.
Going to find help.

I set the paper where I had been lying
– the most obvious of places so she wouldn’t overlook it – and
after saying the invisibility spell, I was out the door.

* * *

I passed close to ten officers, three
of whom had German Shepherds, on the way outside. I didn’t bother
walking slowly or being as discreet as possible in case I’d said
the spell wrong; I ran like hell and hoped it had worked. Nobody
followed or seemed to notice.

When I made it to the wood
line, I whispered the spell again to make me visible. I noticed
something different deep inside – my draw to these woods, to Gabe.
It was stronger, almost pulsating, and I blanched. According to
mom, that was a bad sign. Before taking off again, I glanced at the
school. A silhouette stood in our window – red hair, pale
skin.
Anna.
Shit…
did she see me? I didn’t have time to care, so I took off toward
the clearing ahead.

* * *

The clearing was empty, nothing but a
ring of stones and smoldering embers from the night before. “Guys?”
I asked, my voice echoing.

No one answered.

The tents and horses
weren’t visible; they must have left to hunt or gather and had
cloaked everything with the spell before they’d left. I said the
spell again, hoping it would reverse the veil. It worked. I spotted
Legolas right away, and music filled the air in rich, bright tones
– a guitar.
Gabe!

I followed the pull of my draw to his
tent and peeked inside. He sat cross-legged on his bed with the
guitar in his lap. I’d never felt happier to see someone. He was
okay. “Gabe?”

He jumped. “Shit!” When he saw it was
me, his expression morphed from joy to concern. “Kat,” he said,
laying his guitar down and hurrying to my side, “what’s
wrong?”

I burst into tears again. “Sarah!” was
all I could squeak out.

He wrapped me in a blanket of comfort.
“Who’s Sarah?”

I spoke between gasps. “My friend.
She’s gone.”

“Gone?”

“Disappeared.”

His arms constricted. “Like the girl
you were telling us about the other night?”

I nodded into his chest. “We need to
find her.”

He pulled back, bracing his hands on
my face. “We’ll find her. I’ll ask everyone to help. We’ll scour
the school for days if we have to.”

Relief flooded through me, and I gave
him a thankful smile through my tears. The sound of heavy footfalls
outside announced the others’ arrival. “They’re back,” he said.
“They’d gone hunting. Let’s talk to Iris.”

* * *

“Oh my,” Iris said, looking to Kai,
“we’ll do whatever we can.”

I wiped my wet cheeks. “Thank
you.”

“Yes,” Kai echoed. “Whatever we
can.”

Piper took my hand. “We’ll find her,”
she soothed.

“If we have to look all night,” added
Aubrey.

Colton and Brad unloaded a deer
carcass from the back of a horse while Raymond carried two sets of
bows and arrows into his tent. Their hunt had been
successful.

Iris’s dove flew to a nearby branch,
and Kai helped remove her down jacket. This was the first time I’d
seen her without a dress on. “Let’s all get a drink and we’ll start
right away. Kai, you mind?”

“Mind what, dear?” he asked, slinging
her jacket over his shoulder.

She looked at him pointedly.
“Drinks?”

“I’ll help,” Piper offered.

“No, darlin’. Kai’s got
it.”

“I’ve got it,” he insisted and started
to wherever they kept the dishes.

* * *

While we gathered around the fire ring
and settled on the logs, Kai brought out a tray with mugs balanced
on top. “Thank you,” I said as he handed me one.

“So when was the last time you saw
Sarah?” Iris asked and watched as I sipped my water. It had a tang,
and I swallowed hard to keep from grimacing.

“Um… yesterday at breakfast, I
guess.”

“I see.” She watched intently as the
others sipped theirs. Kai handed her the last mug, and she placed
it on the ground.

“Ugh, what’s in this, Kai?” Aubrey
scowled.

“I know, right?” Raymond chuckled.
“You poisoning us or something?”

Kai forced a laugh, but
Iris remained focused. Watchful. I smiled at her, thankful for
their help, and she separated into two images that slapped back
together. My head buzzed.
Ugh.
I wasn’t feeling well.