Outside, thunder began to rumble. I looked up at Sydney; we both tensed as lightning flashed. “Here it comes.” Sydney glanced out the window, then back at me. “I’m really sorry.”

  “What’s this?” I held up the last item from my bag. A grey-ish hat? Not mine. “Where’d this come from.”

  “Stenway.” Sydney replied automatically, then stared at the rain smacking the window. She turned back to me and held out her hand. “I’ll give it back to him.”

  “When? You aren’t going out in this.” I held the hat close to my chest, suspicion growing on me. Sydney wouldn’t look me in the eye. “I have to go over there for the cats this afternoon. Are you seeing him before then?”

  “Well, he wanted to come over today, we didn’t really get to spend any time yesterday…”

  I exploded. “Are you serious? He almost got your sister kidnapped yesterday, do you remember that? He basically kidnapped her himself, so why would you ask him back over here?”

  “They’re really worried, T.J.” Sydney sat down on the bed and put her head in her hands. “I was really confused and, they’re worried, and he said you would really help, and all I had to do was get you to come to town with us and get a hair. And you know, it seemed like such a little thing to do, he was stressed, and the men at his house were freaking out, and I just wanted to help.”

  “Syd, you could have just asked me! Why didn’t you? I…” I stomped around the room. Below us, we heard a knock on the door. I looked up at Sydney. She’d gone pale.

  “That’s Stenway.”

  “I’m not going to stay in the house with him.” I grabbed my raincoat off the hook and threw it on, stuffing my hands down into the pockets. “I’m going out.” I edged towards the door, and Sydney jumped off the bed.

  “Tyler, you are not. Not in this weather.” We were running down the stairs, each trying to keep ahead of the other. I gave Sydney a sharp nudge in the ribs with my elbow, sitting her down on the stairs. I jumped down the last three steps and flew to the door, yanked it open and almost collided with Stenway. Throwing him the angriest look I could, I flipped my hood up over my head and ran down the street.

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  Thankfully the thunder and lightning had stopped, you could still catch a rumble or two off in the distance, but the rain was coming down in sheets.

  I wasn’t even thinking real thoughts as I ran through the rain; I didn’t have a place in mind, but, out of habit, my feet led me directly to the park. I was absolutely drenched by the time I ducked under the big arch above the pathway, but I slowed to a walk down the path. I headed towards the gazebo, flapping my arms to get the rain off of my jacket. The gazebo was quite damp, too, but the floor in the middle was dry so I sat there, unzipping my rain jacket and slipping it off so I could wrap my arms around my legs.

  I realized I’d been crying the whole way to the park; the water trickling onto my lips was salty. I wiped my nose on my sleeve. All around me, rain was slowly pattering against leaves and the sidewalk, and I could hear a few drops against the roof. It seemed to be slowing down, finally. I reached around for my raincoat and felt a small, soft lump in one of the pockets. Plunging my hand into the pocket, I pulled out Stenway’s hat. It was dry, so I put it on, slanting it a little over my eyes. Looking out across the park underneath the brim, something caught my eye.

  Someone was walking along the tree line, back where the sidewalk curved around out of sight. I stood up; something about them looked familiar, and for a minute, I couldn’t decide whether I wanted to hide, or go find out who it was. Really, who on earth would be out in this kind of weather, not walking along the sidewalk?

  I slid off the gazebo and moved around off the path to stand behind some shrubbery, watching. Whoever it was was coming along the line of the trees towards the gazebo. I could see them getting larger as they got closer. Who was it?

  I ducked lower, to get more out of sight, trying to decide whether or not to leave my spot and slide into the trees. The person disappeared around an outcropping of some green bushes, and I dropped to the ground, whipping the hat off my head and into my pocket, straining to listen. Squeezing back in between two of the dark green bushes that surrounded the gazebo, I twisted around to watch the edge of the woods. The edges of the leaves were sharp, and a few cut into the back of my neck, but I didn’t dare move. Sure enough, the person came back around the bushes, into view.

  From this distance, I could see that whoever it was walked kind of like an old person, you know, a little unsure, hunched over at the shoulders, slower than a normal adult. Their chin was tucked tightly down into a dark blue coat, the collar of which was pulled up to their ears, and… a bandana tied around the head? Some little old lady out for a stroll in the rain? Maybe she was in trouble, or forgetful. I wriggled back out of the bushes and moved out onto the path, slowly.

  “Hi, excuse me?”

  The woman’s head shot up, squinting through the drizzle.

  I had to be seeing things. My heart stopped.