Midnight by Anna Dove (books for new readers .TXT) 📕

at the house before them, its dark windows lonely and bleak, and suddenly she could not see; tears spilled over her cheeks and she crouched on the ground. Never before had she been afraid to enter this house. Her entire life, it had been a solace, a nest of comfort, with familiar warm smells and constant laughter and noise. Her memories crashed into her mind like a forceful wave, chasing her brothers while playing tag, kissing her baby sister’s forehead, opening Christmas stockings, waking up before anyone else and making coffee cake so that they could all eat breakfast together. Those were the moments she liked best, when the entire family was gathered around the table with coffee cake, talking and poking fun, the laughter, the light--

Elizabeth had crouched beside her on one side and Junetta on the other.

“I can’t do it,” whispered Haley. The darkness seemed to be concentrated around her, pressing her down.

“Are you afraid of what’s inside?” asked Elizabeth.

“No, no” said Haley, barely audibly. “I know they’re alive. I don’t know if they’re in there, but I know they’re alive. I just--it’s so horrible--I’ve just never seen it like this before. I’ve never seen it without a light on.”

Junetta placed an arm on her granddaughter’s shoulders.

“I know,” she said, and gave a little sigh. “But you have to listen to me. This is not over. None of it is over. We need to push through until we find them. You need to take a deep breath.”

Haley inhaled and exhaled, and shivered. They sat for a minute in silence, and the breeze whispered in the treetops, brushing the leaves against each other in a soft rushing sound. Then, Haley wiped the tears from her face with her sleeve and slowly stood, Junetta and Elizabeth following. They faced the house and then began to walk towards it, up the brick walkway that led to the front door. Haley’s heartbeat pounded loudly in her ears, and all other sounds faded as they reached the front door.

She turned the doorknob; it was unlocked. The door caught on the wooden floor inside as it always did, and Haley pushed it a little. It swung open, and she stepped into the foyer, which adjoined the dining room. She turned into the kitchen to her right, and opened the drawer of candles under the countertop, striking a match and lighting one. As the others closed the door behind them, she entered with the lit candle and a handful of others, and they each lit a candle from her flame and held it up to see the rooms.

The house was very empty, which Haley had suspected, and there were no sounds except for the creak of floorboards and their own breaths, and the occasional sputtering of a candle. They entered each room in a preliminary search, and found no one. The house was surprisingly neat; it did not appear to have been abandoned in a great hurry. The furniture was neatly arranged as usual, the kitchen sink was clean, the bedrooms were in order. The family’s departure must have been premeditated, planned carefully.

“It will be morning soon,” said Carlos, as they all stood in the living room after having walked the entirety of the house. “I think we should sleep, and then determine what to do. I will take the first watch--you all sleep for a few hours.”

“I’ll take the second watch,” said Haley.

The women went upstairs to the bedrooms, and Carlos took his station down in the foyer. Haley went to her old room, where her little sister Lily had been sleeping since Haley went away to college seven years ago. The little girl had painted the walls a sky blue, and had pictures of horses all over the walls, and ribbons from horse shows hanging from lamps and curtain rods. Haley took a nearby ribbon, and holding it in her hand, slipped under the covers on the bed. The pillows and mattress felt cloud-like after having slept on sticks and leaves and horseback and in the bottom of a boat, and within two minutes Haley was fast asleep, the ribbon clutched close to her.

It was light when she was awakened by Carlos, who lightly shook her shoulder.

“Haley--it’s your turn. It’s almost nine in the morning.”

“Thank you,” said Haley, rubbing her eyes. She found the ribbon still in her hand. “How long was I asleep for?”

“About five hours.”

“Thank you, I needed it,” said Haley, pulling off the covers. Carlos handed her the gun he had been carrying and she took it carefully, and then made her way downstairs.

The light streamed through the glass windows in the dining room; the windows ran from the roof to just above the floor, and allowed a view of the wide backyard and garden, meeting a slope that led down to a chicken coop, blueberry bushes and a garden shed. Haley sat, munching on granola bars from the pantry, sipping water, and letting her gaze run over the familiar land. Her eyes rested on the garden beds, and suddenly she sat up very straight in her seat.

The beds were turned. Fresh dirt lay in mounds, only slightly dried. Usually, by this time of the year, there would have been leafy greens, bean vines, young potato shoots, tiny onions, baby flowers. Now, nothing--no green, no buds, no promise of food--nothing. Haley examined the mounds from the window, and as she looked closer, she saw pits in between the mounds.

The plants had been dug up, and apparently very recently. Her family had not been gone long. Hope sprung up in her heart and she stood up. She had to figure out where they had all gone.

If she was leaving, and wanted to leave behind a subtle message about where she had gone, what would she do?

Locking all the doors so that she would hear any intruders, she began to