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She saw hi blond hair He was running toward her

“Jill!” the boy yelled

But theinto her neck So sharp A needle?

She fell back into the van, her head hitting the side panel, and darkness flooded Jill’s vision

“JILL? JILL!”

Her eyes flew open and Jill sucked in a quick breath so that she could scream

“No, don’t” A sweaty hand flew over her mouth “If you scream, he’ll hear you and he’ll find us”

Us?

Jill blinked as she becas She was in a room with no furniture, just wooden walls Her hands—her hands were tied together and so were her feet She was on a dirty, dusty floor Light burned froht, too stark

“We can’t let him find us, Jill,” the boy said

Boy It was the boy from the pier He had scratches on his face and his eyes ide and intense as he stared down at her

“I’ll untie you, and then we’re going to run We’re going to run as fast as we can, got it?”

She nodded, tears stinging her eyes

His hand slipped away froan to work on the ropes that held her The ropes at her feet gave way quickly, but the ones that bound her wrists—they were knotted, stuck

“Forget it,” he said and yanked her up to her feet “We’ll get them later, after we’re out of here”

She didn’t even knohere here was, but she wanted to leave She wanted to leave right then

He pushed her toward theIt was open and the scent of the salty ocean blew in toward her “I’ll give you a boost You get out, and you go, got it? YouI’ll be right behind you You just go”

Jill nodded She’d go

He pushed her through theand she fell out on the other side, hitting her shoulder with a jarring impact, but Jill pounced back to her feet and she started running Onlythere didn’t seem to be anywhere to run to It was dark and there were trees shooting up all around her, a marshy-like area and she looked back, scared—

He was there The boy with the too long hair He grabbed her bound wrists “Come on, Jill”

She didn’t see thethe to hurt them both

Kill them

They ran intoher Her teeth started to chatter, not fro at her “H-hehurt me” Her jaw still ached “Hetooklot

“I saw hiers fumbled with the ropes that bound her wrists The knots ca so careful with her “I wasn’t going to let you vanish”

Vanish

That’s ould have happened to her, Jill knew it She just would have vanished without a trace “I want to go home,” she whispered

Home

The house she’d shared with her parents in Georgia Her haven Her safe place She wanted her mom She wante

d her dad She wanted this to be a terrible nightmare

But the boy wrapped his ar to be okay”

She believed him He’d found her, someway Gotten her out ofthere He saved her “I don’t I don’t even know your name”

He pulled back and stared at her “I’m Hayden Hayden Black”

Hayden Such a good name for a best friend

They ran until they reached the road They ran and ran, but each time a car came by, Hayden made her hide

He was afraid the kidnapper was co for them

Hours ticked by and then they finally hts blazed fro and patrol cars filled the parking lot Hayden’s fingers were laced with hers as they walked up the wooden steps that led to the station He opened the door, and they slipped inside

There was instant silence Every eye turned toward them

Jill looked down at herself Her clothes were torn and muddy She’d lost her flip-flops Her feet were raw and blistered

And she was sure her jaas bruised It still hurt so much

“Jillian!” Her grand “My little Jilly!”

Jilly Her mother used to call her that, too Jilly went up the hilly Her own version of the rhyme

The tears were falling again Jill couldn’t stop the to send her away Her grandmother smelled like sweet vanilla Like apricots

Like home

“What in the hell did you do, boy?” It was aAnd that voicethea sheriff’s uniforirl? You hurt her?”

No, no, of course Hayden hadn’t hurt her Jillian struggled out of her grandrabbed Hayden His face was angry as the sheriff snarled, “You’re just like your father”

All of the color bled from Hayden’s face

“You pulled the wrong stunt today,” the man snapped “You—”