Within These Walls

Chapter 14

I sit next to Camille on the black leather sofa, my eyes glued to the TV. It's on the news station again. Since that first day, all the new station channels have been black screens. Now one of the popular cable news networks is back on, and a brunette is talking from behind a desk. Below her image is the headline: Unexplained Teen Deaths and Disappearances.

"What's going on?" Carson asks, walking up behind us.

"Shut up and turn up the volume," Marcus says.

". . . all seven teenagers were discovered in their beds between Monday and Wednesday morning last week. Officials say the similarities between the cases are too significant to ignore. They're also trying to determine if these deaths are connected to the disappearances of at least fifty teenagers across several states along the East Coast."

The camera switches to a reporter standing on a street corner. "This widespread case has shocked many people nationwide, including the Bridgeport Police Department here in Connecticut. Emily Hawkins was found dead early Wednesday morning by her own mother. As of this moment, our sources believe asphyxiation to be the cause of death. Emily leaves behind a mother and two younger siblings, all of whom are understandably distraught."

"I don't understand why anyone would do such a thing," says the mother in another shot. Unkempt hair hangs around a face twisted with grief. "Emily was such a sweet girl. She loved everyone. Why would anyone want to hurt her?"

They show three more families as a voice names other dead kids. Eric Toschi. Amanda Rodriguez. Randy Horace. All of them beloved and wholly good.

The female newscaster eventually returns. "Thank you, Ray. Steven. It is a heart-wrenching story, but there might be hope yet for those teenagers believed to be alive—"

The screen goes black. It happens so suddenly that my heart lurches. I get up from the sofa, expecting something to happen.

Nothing but dead silence.

"Who are these dead kids they're talking about?" Marcus asks.

I can't speak through the rock lodged in my throat. "There were supposed to be ninety-six of us," Carson says, his voice strained. "Because of the seven empty beds. We talked about why they didn't show up, but I guess . . ."

"They killed them." Camille draws her legs up on the sofa and wraps her arms around her knees. "Our kidnappers killed them."

Carson bolts past me and into the bathroom, slamming the door shut. Seconds later we hear him retching. The others start to talk at once, trying to make sense of what they just saw. I can't hear them. I stare at the dark screen and think of Rae and how she and her friends thought they would be safe if they just gave up.

If the Takers were willing to kill a bunch of kids in their beds, kids who'd done nothing wrong, would they spare a group of quitters?

"Please tell me that girl changed her mind," Carson says to me when he comes out of the bathroom, wiping his mouth.

I shake my head. "She didn't."

Marcus stops arguing with Alec and levels a glare at Carson and me. "What girl?"

I tell him everything, my voice faltering when I remember Rae's anguish. Her uncertain hope. Why didn't I stop her? I knew something was wrong. I knew it, but I didn't try hard enough. I was too caught up in thinking about Marcus and Rudolph.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Marcus asks.

"I didn't think it would matter to you," I admit. "Why would you care if they got themselves killed? Survival of the fittest, right?"