Enduring Light (The Afterglow Trilogy #3)(11)
Author: Alyssa Rose Ivy

“Who are you?” Charlotte’s friend Rachel asked.

“I am a friend of the Wint… um… Calloways.”

I was surprised Samantha even remembered my last name, since no one used it in Energo.

“Oh… is Henry home?”

Samantha didn’t skip a beat. “Henry? No. He is with Charlotte.”

“Where did they go? They’ve been out of school for weeks.” Rachel sounded breathless, as if she’d been running. Maybe she had been. There was really no other reason for her to be in our neighborhood. Either that or she was stalking the house. Considering how into Henry she was, maybe that wasn’t too far off.

“Visiting family.”

“In Europe? Are you from there, too? You talk like Henry.”

I had to force down a laugh. We’d been worried the “Europe cover” wouldn’t work for Henry, but no one seemed to question it. I guessed the alternative possibility, that he was from another world, was too out there for anyone to believe.

“Yes, Henry and I are from the same place.”

Man, Samantha was pretty good at being evasive. I’d have to remember that.

“Is Monty with them? And what about Kevin? The police are involved now. They think they were kidnapped or something.”

“Monty and Kevin are visiting elsewhere,” Samantha replied calmly.

“Oh. Well, do you know when everyone’s coming back? I need to talk to Henry.”

“I am sorry, but did you mention who you were?”

“Rachel. I’m Henry’s girlfriend.”

“Oh, I have heard of you.”

“You have?” The excitement in Rachel’s voice was comical. At least the girl was as crazy for him as he was for her. The stalking-the-house theory was sounding more and more likely.

“Yes. He cares for you.”

“Can you tell him I miss him? I really miss him.”

Samantha stepped closer to the doorway. “Are you crying?”

“Yeah. It’s been hard. I thought I lost my best friend and boyfriend all at once.”

“They miss you as well. I will make sure they know you came by. And you will see them again soon.” Samantha’s voice held a conviction that seemed intense, even for her. She really believed we had a chance, and that made me believe it. “Take care now.”

“Bye.” Rachel sounded sad, but at least she knew Henry hadn’t just left her.

Samantha closed the door and locked it before turning to look at us. “How did I do?”

“Perfect.” I smiled. “Of course.”

“I feel sorry for that girl. I do hope Henry comes back for her. I have seen the love he has for her. They need to unite.”

Wow. I’d never heard Samantha talk about uniting before. Did she have more interest in that sort of stuff than I thought?

Monty headed back into the kitchen. “I’m sure he will. He’s an admirable kid. Plus his mother would have his hide if he didn’t.”

Samantha walked toward the stairs. “I think I am going to get some sleep.”

I wanted to follow, but I figured that wouldn’t go over well. Instead, I helped Monty with the minimal dishes. Afterward, I flipped through an old Sports Illustrated. Bored, I decided I might as well go to bed, too.

“Kevin, come in here,” Monty called from the den.

I stopped halfway up the stairs. “What is it?”

“It’s not good.”

I ran back down, jumping over the last couple of steps, and went into the den. Monty gestured to the TV. ESPN was on.

Authorities are calling foul play in the disappearance of UNC forward Kevin Calloway and his family. After weeks of extensive investigation, the trail is still cold. Teammates of Calloway have their own theories.

I groaned as the camera moved to my roommate Marcus. “Kevin was into some strange shit. I don’t know what was real and what was fantasy, but there may be some Lord of the Ring types involved.”

“Lord of The Ring types?” the reporter asked skeptically.

“Yeah, old fashioned clothes and everything. They even talked all funny. They were probably really after his sister, though. She’s the princess.”

“And now back to Drew in the studio.”

The screen went black for a second before returning to sports scores.

Monty let out a deep breath. “This is bad.”

“You think? It was bad enough that the cops here were looking. I should have assumed they’d be involved in Chapel Hill, too.” It wasn’t every day that a starting player from a major ACC team went missing. I caught a few scores, and it didn’t look as though my team was doing well. I wondered if I’d ever play basketball again. “What do we do?”

Monty shut off the TV. “Lay low. Don’t talk to anyone you don’t have to tomorrow. We let Samantha and Talen have all the conversations. No one is looking for them.”

I nodded. “I guess that’s the only thing we can do. Do you think anyone’s waiting for us with Dad? And wait. What about IDs? Won’t our names flag the system at the airport?”

“We’re covered. We had to get identification for Samantha and Talen, so I got us some fake IDs.”

“You did all this in less than a day?”

“No. I had someone do it earlier.”

“Someone?”

“Sometimes it’s better not to ask questions, Kevin.” Monty was acting really weird.

During the weeks we were at the caves, he’d made several trips without telling us where he was going. Mom said that was just the way he was, but he had never been like that back home. Maybe his evasiveness was just nerves. I knew I wasn’t exactly thrilled about the trip.

“Okay,” I said. “On that note, I’m going to bed for a few hours.”

“Do that. I’m going to keep first watch. I’ll wake you up so I can sleep next.”

“Sounds good.” I headed upstairs. Instead of stopping on the second floor by my room, I went to the third and listened outside of Charlotte’s room. I heard a few notes of music and knocked a few times before slowly opening the door. Samantha looked up when I walked in.

“You trying out the cello?”

“No, I mean…it just reminded me of something.”

“Are you really into music?” I had no ability when it came to music, but both Charlotte and Monty loved it.

“No. I just wanted to hear it. It’s like I’ve heard someone play one before.”