The Missing

you.”

    Taige smirked. “Only thing following me is you, Uncle. Does that mean you’re evil?”

    Leon Carson, unlike most of the locals, was pale as death. He spent his days inside his office or inside the little ramshackle church off of Highway 20. He rarely went outside, and it showed in his pale, almost pasty skin. Now that pale skin flushed an angry red. “Evil. You insult the Almighty when you insult one of His servants.”

    “I insulted you, Uncle. Not one of God’s followers.” Knowing he wasn’t going to leave her alone anytime soon, Taige forced her aching body upright. She still wore the tank suit and shorts she’d had on earlier, and the shorts had dried stiff and felt scratchy on her body. Her teeth felt all fuzzy, and she had a feeling she stank to high heaven. She wanted a shower, but she wasn’t taking one here.

    When her uncle was in one of these moods, the only safe place to be was far, far away.

    She pushed her aching, stiff body out of bed and slid her feet into a worn pair of tennis shoes. Leon continued to rant at her, punching at the air with his fists, threatening her with fire and brimstone. He took up most of the doorway, and rather than risk brushing past him, she opened the window over her bed. She heard him moving closer, and she shot him a warning look.

    He fell silent, and she smirked, knowing that he was remembering her promise. “Someday you will have to pay for all your sins, girl,” he whispered. He shook his head and even managed to give her a mournful look, as though the thought hurt him.

    “At least I know my list of sins will be shorter than yours, Uncle dear,” Taige muttered as she ducked out of the window. It was a good drop. Like most of the houses this close to the water, Leon’s house was set on stilts. The ground was probably a good twenty feet down, and she hit hard, the jolt rattling her entire body. Still, it was better than staying in that house one more second.

    Behind her, she heard Leon railing on about the sins of being a demon child. Tuning him out, she headed off in the direction of Rose’s. It was a good three miles on foot. If Taige hadn’t left her bike at the beach, she could have made it in less than thirty minutes. But on foot, it was probably going to take a good hour. At least she was away from Leon. Her legs were heavy and leaden. Each step felt like she was slogging away through mud instead of walking along the roadside.

    When the headlights splashed on the road beside her, Taige felt a chill dance up her spine. The car went on by at a snail’s pace, and Taige refused to look toward the driver or the passenger. It kept on down the road, and Taige started to run. Adrenaline burned away some of the exhaustion, and she fell into a quick, easy pace. She saw a car come around the curve, and she knew it was the same car. As it started toward her, she darted off the road into the grass and ran through, heading for the Paradise Dunes, one of the privately owned resorts. The lights shone brightly, but it was a good half mile away, and behind her, she heard a couple of car doors slam, followed by an obnoxious male laugh.

    One quick glimpse into their minds told her they were drunk, and as one of them called to the other, she recognized the voice and the name: Joey Rosenberg and Lee. She couldn’t remember Lee’s last name, but she knew them. They were trouble.

    Worse, they were fast. Taige still felt half-dead, and she wasn’t moving very fast at all. She put on an extra burst of speed just as one of them tried to grab her. She felt the rush of air on her neck and heard him swear as he missed.

    Just a little closer. The resort probably had a security guard, and he would be along the entrance road just ahead. If she could just—Joey tackled her, and Taige’s shriek was muffled against the grass. He shoved a knee into her back and fisted a hand in her hair, keeping her pinned.

    Oh, no. This is not going to happen—

    Rage and fear mixed inside her as he struggled to pull her cutoffs away. Taige hissed and tried to flip over. “Grab her, Lee,” Joey panted. “Strong little bitch.”

    Just as she started to get some leverage, Lee grabbed her wrists and jerked her flat. She felt Joey’s hands, sweaty and slick, as he managed to jerk her shorts down. He used his weight to pin her legs, his knees digging into her thighs while he fumbled with his own shorts.

    Nonononono! Taige could hear the scream building in her head. Building