The Red

Chapter 22

Caylen and I run the whole way home, which cannot be good for my ankle, but the adrenaline pulsing through me makes it so I don't even notice the pain.

We run through the front door, screaming our faces off. Shauna and Rob come running from the hallway, dressed in nightclothes.

"What the heck are you doing?" Shauna says over our yells.

Caylen and I stand there, panting and trying to compose our breathes. We each take turns sharing the story through panicked gasps, and Rob and Shauna's eyes widen. When we get to the part about how we fell off of the balcony, Shauna gives me a questioning glare. She probably thinks it was my idea to fall off of it. But when we explain how Danny was lying, lifeless, in a pool of blood, Rob runs to the phone. He makes a call and soon, people are bursting through the front door.

I see familiar people, and some unfamiliar people. Stephano, Susan, Krista and some other girl who must be Jen, some older people, and two boys who look about my age. Rob explains the situation to them and mostly people just nod.

"Who's going to inspect it?" a man with brown hair, who looks about thirty, says.

"I will," one of the boys says. He points to me. "I think she should go, too."

"What?" I say. "No. I can't go back."

"You have to!" the boy says. "I want to see if you're as good as your parents."

"I...."

"Go, Natalie," Rob says.

Tears start spilling out of my eyes, and I begin to sob. "This is all my fault! If I wasn't there, this wouldn't have happened!" I don't know what I'm saying. It doesn't make sense. Maybe it's because of the agency. The Red are probably hunting us down every second of every day.

"Who else is going?" the man says.

No one else volunteers. I doubt anyone ever reacts to a murder like I am. They inspect them all the time. But they weren't there. They didn't hear the kid's last words, or hear his screams piercing through the night.

"Caylen?" I say. "You coming?"

He shakes his head and looks at the ground. "I can't."

"Well, I guess this is it," the man says. "Natalie, Timothy, come with me."

The boy who volunteered earlier follows the man out the door, with me limping behind them.

The man turns around once we're outside and says, "I'm Mark Green. I'm the head of the agency."

I just smile, although I'm in so much pain that it probably doesn't look too natural.

Mark takes us to a silver car at the end of the street, and Timothy and I climb in the back. Timothy's foot bumps my ankle and I yelp in pain.

"What'd I do?" he says while quickly turning around.

"Sorry. My ankle. I think it's sprained or something."

"After we inspect the scene," Mark says, "we're going to take care of that."

I nod, but I'd rather take care of it right now. I feel my shoe becoming tighter as my ankle swells. I want to scream but I really shouldn't.

Mark starts the car and we begin driving toward Main Street. Timothy holds out his hand for me to shake and says, "I'm Timothy. I've seen you in school."

"You have?" I say. "You never said hi."

"I wasn't sure if it was you. I suspected it, because you were the new girl. But I didn't want to introduce myself like a creep and find out it was some coincidence."