I waited until the dead of night.

  I texted Calli: I’m sneaking out to the range!

  She texted back immediately: ARE YOU INSANE???

  I wasn’t sure the answer to that, so I just didn’t respond.

  Really, the only thing I felt that night was fear. Mostly of what my parents would do to me if they found out I was sneaking out. But also, of all the things Ms. Blem had said in her note. If it was true, (and I had basically no doubt it was now), that meant Hannah was trapped somewhere near the range. Or somewhere like the range but other-worldly? And that she had fallen victim to the devil himself.

  I had no idea how I supposed to get her back, but I knew the range was the starting place. It was the place where Hannah disappeared, and it was the thing Ms. Blem had been most afraid of. So, I just had to go there. I just had to.

  Unfortunately, I had absolutely no experience with sneaking out of my house since I’d never had to do it before. But really it couldn’t be that hard. We didn’t have a security system and the closest thing we had to a guard dog was Mocha, who was currently fast asleep at the edge of my bed. The only potential obstacle would come from Earnest waking up and making a scene but from what I could tell he was asleep too.

  So, as the clock struck 1:00, I laced up my Chuck Taylor’s to complete my fully black outfit. Then I crept down the stairs, carefully stepping over the squeaky step, and paused at the front door.

  This would be the point of no return. If my parents were to come downstairs and see me outside the house in this outfit there would literally be no lie in the world that would get me out of it.

  I took a deep breath and steeled myself. There was no time to waste.

  I slipped out my house. I felt my heartbeat all throughout my body. It felt exactly like the adrenaline filled moments before a volleyball game. I took another deep breath. This was something I had to do.

  I couldn’t risk opening the garage to get my bike because it would be way too noisy, so I was just going to have to run all the way. It wasn’t a totally bad thing considering running was one of my favorite pastimes other than volleyball.

  As I ran, I stuck to the sidewalks and tried not to draw attention to myself. Hopefully, anyone who saw me would think I was just some whacko marathon trainer or something, and not a vulnerable and extremely kidnappable thirteen-year-old girl.

  The further I got from home, the easier the whole “sneaking-out-the-house" thing seemed. Logistically there was very little chance that my parents would wake up in the middle of the night and notice I was gone. Plus, it was a foggy night, so probably no one would be able to see me at all. Being caught was simply impractical. Everything was going to be okay.

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  I’d been running for about twenty minutes or so when I reached the roadside entrance to the range.

  I bent over double to catch my breath and then pulled out my phone.

  My lockscreen was a mess of notifications from Calli. I had thirty new texts and five missed calls. She could be a bit of a worry rat. I called her back.

  “Hey, you coming?”

  “Am I coming?!? Caraline you-” and then she cursed me out nonstop for two minutes straight and hung up.

  I looked at my phone in shock. I guess it had been pretty rude to assume she’d just sneak out her house in the middle of the night to meet me here. She wasn’t a complete idiot like I was. I felt terrible. It seemed that whatever I did, I just kept making things worse for everyone around me. First my parents with the way we’d argued the other night, then of course Ms. Blem, and now Calli, my best friend in the world.

  I almost felt like crying but was jolted out my misery as a slow rattling on the previously empty sidewalk filled the air.

  My heart leapt into my mouth, and I jumped behind the entrance sign. My heart rate skyrocketed to fatal levels.

  Fear. Pure uncontrollable fear coursed through my veins. I was far from home, alone at night. Anything or anyone could be after me and I’d be hopeless to overpower them.

  The rattling sound stopped what felt like mere inches away from the entrance sign. I gulped and covered my mouth with my hand. I risked a look from behind the sign, careful not to move quickly and make noise.

  And there stood Calli Morrell herself, gripping a dinky little scooter.

  I WAS SAVED! I jumped out from behind the sign, and she actually screamed in fear, but I ignored it. I ran up to hug her as she repeated: “getoffme, getoffme, getoffme.” Eventually, I let go.

  “I don’t appreciate you forcing me to come out here,” she said, angrily adjusting her shirt.

  “Sorry,” I said, keeping the comment that I didn’t technically ‘force’ her to myself.

  “So, what’s your big plan?”

  I shrugged and looked down the road to where I could see glimpses of the range from between the trees. “Investigate.”

  Calli hefted her scooter, carefully maneuvering it in such a way that it didn’t smack into her shins, and we walked down the road together.

  The range looked creepy, but I told myself that was just because it was dark and foggy. The hair on the back of my neck prickled and I swiveled my head around; certain we were being watched. And even though I didn’t see anyone, the feeling didn’t go away.

  I was lucky Calli had come with me. I wasn’t sure I would’ve been able to face this place alone.

  Once we got closer, I realized the stairs leading to the upper levels of the range were blocked off with wooden boards. They were nailed to the stairs in crisscross patterns that formed huge X’s and managed to put me even more on edge. It was like the place was telling us we shouldn’t be there.

  I glanced at Calli as we stood in front of the structure. She nodded at me and then we both walked past the range and into the grass beyond it.

  Hannah wasn’t just going to be sitting out in the open field, I knew that much. But how else was I supposed to look for her?

  I waded further and further into the grass, scanning the ground at my feet. The weeds seemed to be grabbing at my legs, trying to tangle me and trip me up. I felt my stomach go empty as I continued walking forward. Hannah had to be here somewhere. The police must have missed something. It was one of those things you told yourself but deep down, you knew wasn’t true.

  “Cara!” I spun towards Calli who had walked into the grass a little away from me. I could hear the urgency in her voice, and I sprinted, no I flew over to her and then stopped dead in my tracks. There was a body in the grass.