The Girl in the Wall by Jacquelyn Mitchard, Daphne Benedis-Grab Page A

and I somehow manage to make it to my feet.
    “Um, I thought of another place Ariel might be,” I say. My voice sounds like it belongs to a stranger but I press on. “It’s in the garage, it’s this bomb shelter under the floor.”
    “Okay,” The Assassin says.
    Relief floods through me so fast I lose the ability to stand and sit back hard on the metal chair. Hudson squeezes my hand and I turn to him, relief making my body feel light. We got the time!
    And then I hear the gunshot.

CHAPTER 16
Ariel
    One minute Mike is a person and the next minute he is an open wound, his head a leaking mess of red and gray and gore, his body falling, lifeless, on the floor. I press my hands against my mouth, holding in my scream. It slips out the sides but there is so much screaming in the living room that mine goes unheard.
    I close my eyes but the image is seared in my brain, calling up the matching images of Bianca and my father. It takes everything in me but I push them away, into the dark place in my mind, and shut the door. My face is wet with tears and sweat but I crawl back to the grate and look out into the living room.
    Agents are cleaning up the mess that was Mike—that I don’t look at. Pretty much everyone is having some kind of breakdown, crying, wailing, sobbing in someone else’s arms. Cassidy’s face is sharply etched but I see tears on her face. Ella has collapsed in Lulu’s lap and there is blood on her hair that Lulu is not touching. Sera is next to her and I’m surprised to see that she’s not having a meltdown. Sera melts down over mice in traps so this should put her over the edge. But it hasn’t. Her face is ashen and she’s holding Hudson’s hands so tightly I can see her skin turn white around the knuckles. But there are no tears, no cries, just a deep pain in her eyes. I can’t help but wonder if she’s keeping it together or if she’s fallen into some kind of catatonic state.
    The Assassin is still standing in front of everyone, gun in hand. He is waiting for people to be quiet. Slowly, when people realize he is still there, the cries soften to low moans and people sit up. After a minute it’s so quiet I hear fabric rustle when Ella sits up. No one wants to give The Assassin a reason to shoot anyone else.
    The sweat on my face and body has dried and now I feel chilled sitting here alone on the hard floor. I wrap my arms around myself and wait for The Assassin to speak.
    “Your friend was not here at midnight so someone was shot, as promised,” The Assassin says in his neutral tone. He looks at Sera. “If we find her in the garage, then you can all relax. But if not, I’d advise you to do some careful thinking about why you would protect the person who just let your friend die. And I promise you, if she is not found soon, he will not be the only one to die tonight.”
    His words slice into me so deeply I almost cry out. This is my fault. Mike would be alive if I hadn’t hidden and stayed hidden. Or if I hadn’t changed seats with Bianca. But he lost his life so that I can keep mine and I’m not sure I can live with how worthless that makes me feel.
    “We’ll let you know what we find,” The Assassin says, and then he is gone.
    I feel such hatred for him it scorches my insides. But it’s nothing compared to the hatred I feel for myself. I can’t do this, I can’t stay hidden any longer. I see Nico’s point about my disappearance as a distraction, but it’s not worth more lives.
I’m
not worth more lives.
    Last weekend we all went to the movies and Mike bought this big tub of popcorn. I’m not sure what started it but halfway through the movie all the guys started throwing popcorn at each other, the girls screaming and ducking to avoid getting that gross butter stuff on our faces and clothes. The manager came and threw us all out. On the way out of the aisle I grabbed the tub with the last bits of popcorn and seeds at the bottom, and once we were in the parking lot I dumped it on