Page 2 of Little Stolen Memories

“You can say they’re having sex,” Aubree said. “We’re eighteen, for heaven’s sake.”

Cora walked upstairs and noticed Owen’s door was closed. She knocked on it, waited a minute, and then opened the door, peering inside. Sitting on top of the bed was a coat and a thick pair of socks. Hiking boots were nearby on the floor, which made sense. He could have been preparing for the walk they’d planned.

A wave of concern turned Cora’s insides.

If he wasn’t here, and he wasn’t outside, where was he?

The door across the hall opened, and Brynn stepped out. She smiled at Cora and said, “Hey, what’s everyone doing?”

“I can’t find Owen,” Cora said. “When did you last see him?”

Brynn ran a hand through her short, auburn hair. “Ahh … I haven’t seen him since we arrived, I guess. It’s not a big cabin. He’s gotta be around here somewhere.”

Cora hoped Brynn was right, and she did another sweep of the cabin, looking in closets this time.

Owen was nowhere to be found.

Cora asked everyone to gather in the living room to talk about what to do next, and Jackson suggested the girls remain inside while he and Aidan searched outside.

Twenty minutes turned into forty, and the teen boys still hadn’t returned.

“Something’s wrong,” Cora said. “They should have been back by now. Maybe we should call our?—”

“No,” Aubree said. “If we call our parents, it’s all over. They’ll kill us for lying about where we are this weekend. I don’t know about you two, but I’m not interested in being grounded all summer.”

“I get it, but I’m scared,” Brynn said. “I want to call my mom.”

Cora considered their situation for a moment and said, “Give me a little time. If I don’t find them, we’ll make some calls.”

“You’re going outside?” Brynn said. “You’re crazy. Who knows what’s out there?”

“Well, I’m not just going to sit here and just hope they come back.”

“Fine,” Aubree said, “I’ll go with you.”

“No way,” Brynn said. “You’re not leaving me alone, and I’m not going out there.”

“Aubree, you stay with Brynn,” Cora said. “Give me fifteen minutes. If I’m not back, call your parents.”

Cora grabbed Owen’s coat off his bed and then walked to the kitchen, fishing a bigger flashlight out of the drawer. On the way out, she remembered her grandmother always kept a pair of night vision binoculars behind her jacket. She located them and stepped outside. The forest was quiet tonight, much more so than she remembered it being in years past. It was almost like it had been suppressed somehow, like all the life within it had stilled.

She descended the cabin’s steps and started down the dirt road, shouting, “Jackson? Aidan? Can you hear me? Owen? Is anyone there?”

When no response came, she lifted the binoculars to her eyes and scanned her surroundings. She saw nothing unusual at first, and then she noticed a hand reaching up from the forest floor—a hand that appeared to be waving at her.

Cora rushed in its direction and found Jackson, his head bloody, eyes fluttering open and closed.

She knelt beside him, grabbing his hand as she said, “Jackson! What happened?”

“Hit me, and I … I fell. Need … go home. You … out of here.”

“I’m going to get help. I’ll be right back. I promise.”

Cora jumped to a standing position. She started for the cabin, and someone stepped out of the shadows, striking her on the side of the head with a heavy object. As her legs buckled beneath her and she sagged to the ground, she looked up, staring in confusion as her surroundings went black.

CHAPTER 2

20 YEARS LATER

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