Page 26 of Rescued By Midnight

Cody is striding toward us. My heart clenches in my chest. Like Landon, he’s only gotten more beautiful since I last laid eyes on him. He’s tall like Landon, and with slightly broader shoulders. The white t-shirt he’s wearing shows them off.

I stand awkwardly next to Landon. I remember when I first saw Landon, how I ran to him and hugged him.

Cody holds himself differently. Maybe it’s only my imagination, but he no longer feels approachable. If I were to run up to him and try to hug him, I have the feeling he would step to the side to avoid me.

He nods at Landon. Then his gaze flicks to my face. “Hey, Alice. Are you ready to take a look around?”

“Yeah.” Bewildered at his aloofness, I stutter, “Thanks for, uh, setting everything up for me last night. I really appreciate it.”

“Of course. Let’s go this way.” He spins on his heel and starts walking ahead.

I stumble to catch up, Landon at my side. I want to ask Landon what the hell happened to Cody, like why is he walking around like an alien wearing a Cody suit? But if I were to say anything, Cody would hear me. So I clamp my lips shut and hurry forward.

There aren’t many sounds around here, not even a nearby car. With how desolate this place is, I feel even luckier that those two men found me.

Cody steps off the shoulder and starts walking across a large clearing toward a line of trees. As we get closer to the trees, my sense of foreboding grows. Is Abe’s cabin back there? Is he waiting?

I reach out and find Landon’s hand, squeezing it in my own. He looks over at me and smiles, giving me a gentle squeeze, too.

This would be the right time to let go of his hand. But I don’t let go. My heart pounds, because holding hands feels like more than friendship. He doesn’t seem bothered, though. In fact, maybe he isn’t reading into it at all.

What secrets are swirling in his gray eyes?

As we approach the trees, I don’t see a cabin. Instead, neat little houses, their wood siding painted different colors.

“I didn’t make it out this far when I checked the area last week,” he says. “Cody, how’d you find this place?”

“It’s private property, so we can’t step onto it.” Cody gestures toward one of many prominent signs warning trespassers of the property owners’ deep love for the Second Amendment. “A commune of some kind. I found it on a map. Does this look like where you were held, Alice?”

“No. We were isolated. The cabin was run-down, not like any of these houses.”

“Let’s at least look at the outbuildings,” Cody says. “Maybe you were held off behind one of these places.”

I don’t think so, because I would peer out at the world through the cracks in the cabin walls. There was never a sign of another building, and no voices, ever.

But I humor him and his idea. I want to please him, and make him smile at me again.

That’s what’s missing—his smile.

In front of one little house, chickens cluck as they scratch and peck at the grass. The more we walk, the more lightheaded I become. The world goes dark gray at the edges. I stumble, reaching to my sides for balance.

Strong arms catch me as I faint.

ALICE - THEN

“Change. Now. Put on the nightgown.”

He flung a bundle of lacy white fabric at me. I made no attempt to catch it, letting it cover my head. It smelled like moth balls and dust.

“No.”

“Put it on. Do you want to live?”

I did want to live. Who was he to question that? I had a husband and a life, and the hopes of building our family, of growing old together in our beautiful home in the Community.

Tugging the nightgown away to free my face, I stared at him.

He was showing me his face. On the trail around Blackberry Park, he’d had his face covered with a ski mask. Now, I could see him. Square jaw, hook nose. Brown eyes that locked on mine with a mix of fury and fear. His hair was hidden under a ball cap, but what I could see looked black or dark brown.