A black Mitsubishi pulled up in front of Meaghan’s house. The woman on guard, Officer Suki, watched the female driver exit the vehicle and walk toward the front door. She got out of her cruiser.

“Hey,” she called. “Who’re you?”

The girl jumped in surprise. “I–I’m Jessica.” She replied, shoulders tense. “Meaghan’s friend.” Jessica’s dyed black hair fell over her shoulder from under the hood of her black hoodie. Her leggings were also black.

“She’s not allowed any visitors.” She said. “You’re dressed like you’re here to do something sneaky.”

Jessica shook her head. “No. No, ma’am. I’m taking her the notes she needs for some homework.”

 “Show me.” She pulled a penlight out of her pocket.

Jessica took off her back-pack and opened up her notebook to show the officer a page full of complicated calculus equations. Suki’s eyes skimmed over notes and practice problems. She could feel the smug, superior look Jessica gave her as she clicked off the light.

“Alright, I’ll let you go in, but I need you to be out of there within five minutes.”

“Five minutes?” she repeated, holding up five fingers.

She raised an eyebrow. “Is that a problem? You’re just dropping things off; it shouldn’t take any longer than that.”

“But, I—” Jessica stopped. Her shoulders fell with her sigh. “Five minutes then.”

Suki nodded. “Don’t be late. Also, number five is wrong. The limit does exist; you forgot about finding the derivative first.” She Jessica’s surprised face and walked with some attitude back to her cruiser.

True to her word, Jessica was in and out. She waved to the officer before she entered her car. As she drove off, Suki looked up toward the house. The light was on in Meaghan’s room, but something had rubbed her the wrong way about Jessica, and it wasn’t just the arrogant way she’d looked at her earlier. But maybe she was over thinking things.

She yawned and leaned back in her seat. There wouldn’t be a shift change for another four hours. She figured it was going to be a very long night.

~*~*~

After Keiba had left, Min-Kyung, Darcie, Gerald, and Regina were given programs that included little biographies about each judge and fun facts about Randolph’s orchestra and the instruments in it. They found seats several rows away from and to the left of the stage. Min was seated between Gerald and Darcie. He opened his program and pretended to read about how Ruth had gotten into music, but Darcie ignored his obvious body language.

“Min-Kyung,” She began, crossing her legs. “I didn’t see that you or Keiba had the book we’d talked about.”

“What book?” Gerald asked.

“Keiba borrowed a book from me, but I need it back for class.”

“What class?” Gerald asked.

“Um—”

“Psychology.” Min interjected.

Darcie shot him a look. “Yeah. For psych. Anyway, where is it?”

“Well, one of our friends needed it for a project, so he made copies of it earlier. He should be here a little later.”

Something dark flickered in her eyes. “Copies?”

“Yeah. But only a couple of the pages he needed, so don’t worry too much.”

Darcie looked like she was about to say something, but just then, her phone vibrated in her purse. She pulled it out, replied, and sat moodily back into her seat, her foot tapping impatiently against the grass.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

A few minutes later, the judges introduced themselves and explained that once everyone had played their pieces, the two winners would be announced after a brief intermission. Randolph gave his spiel about how happy he was to have been invited to choose from such a prestigious university… blah, blah, blah. Most people tuned him out after the first five minutes. He concluded his little speech with a song he’d composed for the viola.

As she listened, Keiba’s leg bounced furiously up and down; her hands were flying as she formed some of the more advanced string figures. Her mind was elsewhere, though. She thought about the competition, Min-Kyung, and Darcie, but mostly she thought about her mother. She could almost hear the softness of her voice as her fingers interwove the string, showing the much younger Keiba how to form a lot of the shapes she was making then. She could smell supper cooking on the stove combined with the flowery perfume on her mother’s work clothes.

And for once, the memories didn’t bring resentment or sorrow. Rather, it was a peaceful feeling that filled her. Keiba’s leg relaxed its nervous jig and her hands slowed to a more graceful pace. She daydreamed her way through the first two performances. She felt steady though her mind was adrift. When Sandra told her she was next, she kept her string in her right hand and freed her cello from its case. The next thing she knew she was out on stage and a microphone was held close to her face.

“Bach’s Toccata in D minor.” She said. She’d never remember being asked the question, but she’d always appreciate the fact that at least some part of her had been paying attention.

The audience applauded as she made her way to the chair set in the middle of the stage. She seated herself with her cello in between her legs and set her bow over the strings. Her mother’s yarn was still entangled in her fingers. Keiba took a moment to take a deep breath, then she started to play.

The music literally poured out of her. Every note was saturated with emotion. Keiba’s eyes were dry, but most of the audience couldn’t keep from tearing up.

She could feel her presence sitting beside her. When she was done, she was given a standing ovation. Ms. Heller and another judge had also stood up. She smiled brightly and bowed. She tried to look for Min’s face, but the lights were too bright for her to make anyone out.

Keiba made her way back behind the stage. She received a few praises from the other contestants, but most of them gave her the side-eye. She sat in her chair and sighed, drained. All at once, she returned to herself, her mind no longer drifting. The nervousness quaked through her again, but it was more like an aftershock to the earthquake it’d been before. She put a hand over her palpitating heart.

How in the hell did I make it through that?

Her phone buzzed in her purse. She ped it and saw a text message from Min-Kyung.

Baby, it read, u wer so, so, so beautiful up ther!

She grinned. Aw, thnx Mini! ^^ I tried looking 4 u wher did u guys sit?

Just after she’d sent it, the lights went out. She gasped and a couple of other people screamed. Murmurs from the audience filled the darkness.

“Everyone be calm!” She heard a voice say through the microphone. “The lights will be on again momentarily.”

 Keiba selected the flashlight app on her phone. She shined it around her, but she didn’t see the girl in dark clothing approaching her from her left. She heard the crackling of a Taser just before she felt the paralyzing jolt in her neck. She cried out, but briefly—her muscles seized for five, long seconds before she collapsed, the floor almost as unforgiving as the shock itself.

 Dazed, Keiba couldn’t do much more than moan and roll to her side. Her assailant cursed, apparently dissatisfied with Keiba’s maintained consciousness. She felt him crouch beside her and wrap something around . Plastic handcuffs were secured around her wrists behind her back. She tried to moan louder, but then she felt something sharp press into her neck.

“If you say or do anything,” her assailant whispered fiercely. “I’ll make sure you regret it. Now get up.”

Keiba stumbled to her feet. She’d lost one of her heels when she’d fallen.

“You see that light over there? It’s right in front of you.”

Among the lights of the right wing of campus, there was a small, greenish light in shining from the heart of the forest. It was dim; if you didn’t know to look for it, you’d never notice it was there.

“We’re heading there. Now walk.”

She felt herself start to tear up as she moved in that direction. She hoped against hope that someone would have heard or known, but the lights stayed dark and the audience’s nervous murmurings stayed loud. There was no one who could help her then.

No one at all.

 

When the lights came back on, Min was surprised to find that Darcie had disappeared. During the power outage, he’d felt something brush by him, but he hadn’t thought very much of it at the time. A very, very bad feeling settled in his stomach as he looked at the empty seat beside him.

Gerald was confused too. “Where’s Darcie?” He asked.

“She said before we came that she only had enough time to see Keiba’s performance.” Regina replied. “Remember?”

He held firm. “No. She never said anything to me.”

“Well, maybe you just weren’t listening.”

“Either way, it doesn’t make sense for her to leave during a power outage, Regina.”

She shrugged. Min frowned at her.

“And how did she know when Keiba was supposed to play?” Gerald continued. It was sounding more and more suspicious the more he thought about it. “She’d only told Min-Kyung fifteen minutes ago. She could’ve been last. And she has a book she needs to get back from his friend.”

She didn’t have an answer for that one. “Look, honey, you’ll have to talk to Darcie about that. I don’t have all of the answers.”

He was visibly displeased by this reply. He never would’ve questioned Darcie or Regina to this extent a couple weeks ago. He didn’t know what it was about today, but something wasn’t sitting well with him.

Min looked down at his phone. He was with Gerald. Keiba hadn’t replied yet and that was really starting to worry him. He was staring at it, willing her to text him back, when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned and found Ben standing behind him. Several annoyed people looked around him to see the stage.

“Hey,” Min greeted.

“Hey. We should go and talk somewhere.”

“Alright.” Min excused himself and left the programs on his chair to keep his place.

“Did you bring the book?” he asked.

“Yep.” Ben held it up for him to see. “So where is the little psycho?”

“According to her mother, she left, but I don’t buy that.”

“Yeah, I don’t think she’d leave without her diary.”

Min shook his head.

At this time, Sandra noticed that Keiba was gone. Her cello sat alone by the chair, her phone was on its screen on the floor, and one of her shoes was lying just next to it. Perplexed, she asked the contestants if Keiba had said where she was going, but none of them knew.

She went to the judges and whispered the problem in Randolph’s ear.

“What? She’s gone?” He whispered back.

Sandra nodded.

Ruth had overheard. “Keiba’s disappeared?”

Sandra nodded again. She looked worried. “I don’t think she just left, her cello and cell phone were still there. Also, she’d left one of her shoes.”

“One of her shoes?” interjected another judge. “Oh, dear.”

“She must’ve disappeared during the blackout.” Randolph guessed.

, she thought. “Let me go and look for her.”

“No. You’re a judge, Ruth. You can’t leave in the middle of the performances. You’d worry everyone.”

He was right. She couldn’t just leave; it’d look suspicious. She sighed. “Sandy, go and tell one of the officers that she’s missing. Text me when you find out anything.”

“Okay.” She went off and Ruth pulled out her phone.

“Who’re you texting?” Randolph asked.

“If I can’t look for her, I have to tell people who can.”

A few moments later, Ben and Min’s phones buzzed. The texts read: Keiba’s gone and nobody knows where she went. Dread frosted the blood in Min’s veins. What he’d promised her he wouldn’t let happen had happened.

“We have to let the officers know.” He said. At his tone Ben looked at him, but he was scanning Campus Central for Banks or York. Luckily, York happened to be looking in his direction. Min waved him over.

“What’s up?” He asked.

“Keiba’s gone.”

He turned, if possible, even grimmer than he normally was. “You’re kidding.”

“No.”

“. Was it during the blackout?”

“Probably. No one knows—”

York’s hip blared suddenly with a voice murmuring his name. He held up a hand toward Min and lifted the walkie-talkie. He pressed a button on the side and grumbled into the speaker, “Go ahead, Justin.”

“We just got a report that Keiba Heman has gone missing.”

“Since when?”

“We think she disappeared during the blackout.”

“I see. Do we have anything more about what caused that?”

“Negative. We only have confirmation that only the lights around the main entrance of the college went out.”

 “The left and right wings are normal?”

“Yes.”

York paused. This was getting more and more suspicious as the seconds passed.

“Okay, here’s what we’ll do: you and Stan start looking around the left side of the campus. Me and Banks will check the right side. Let the others know to keep an eye out around here. Also, tell Suki to check on Meaghan.”

“Will do.”

York contacted Banks. “Yo. Banks.”

“Banks here.”

“Come to the west side of the stage.”

“I’ll be there in 20 seconds.”

“Make it 10.” He put his walkie talkie back into his belt and returned his attention to the young men. “There you have it.” He said. “You two should go back while—”

“No.” Min interjected.

York paused. “Excuse me?”

“I can’t go back. Not when Keiba’s out there.”

“Neither can I.” Ben said.

York sighed inwardly. “I can empathize with you, believe me, but we can’t have you getting in our way.”

“I promised her I’d watch out for her.”

“And you have. By telling me what you heard, you’re protecting her.” York tried to go around him, but Min got in his way. “Kid, you’d better move before I cuff you for obstruction.”

“You’ll have to,” Min said. “Because I’m not going back like this. I’ll look for her myself if I have to.”

York stared hard at him, hoping he’d call him on a bluff, but he could see that he was serious. He’d never get Min to back down. He could cuff him, but he’d have to pass through Campus Central to get to his cruiser and he’d rather not cause an unnecessary scene…

He sighed, shaking his head. “Alright, fine. You can come. You, however,” he said indicating Ben. “Have to stay here. Don’t tell anyone that Keiba’s gone. We want to keep everything as normal as we can.”

Ben looked at Min, who nodded. “Tell Keiba’s dad you’re keeping my seat for a little while.”

Ben nodded and lifted his fist. “Good luck, Min.”

Min dapped it. “Thanks.”

Banks jogged toward them, crossing paths with Ben who was heading back to the seats.

“You coming?” He asked Min.

“Yeah.”

“Mm. I figured you would.”

“Stop encouraging him, Banks.” He turned to Min. “Before we start, there are three things you have to follow: Don’t’ go off by yourself. Don’t touch anything if you can help it. And don’t say anything unless it’s to tell us you’ve found or seen something suspicious. Got it?”

Min nodded. “Do I get a weapon?”

“Absolutely not.”

Banks pulled out his flashlight. “A stick might work too if you can find a good one.”

Min accepted it. “Thanks.”

“Now that we’re all armed and dangerous,” York said. “Let’s roll.”

---

Thanks for sticking in there you guys! =D