After Dark by James Leck, Yasemine Uçar, Marie Bartholomew, Danielle Mulhall

Miles rushed over to the cot and looked underneath it.
    â€œNothing,” he grumbled, standing up and yanking open the drawer on the nightstand. I guess he didn’t find anything in there either because he slammed it shut. There was another door in the far corner of the room, and that’s where he headed next.
    â€œWhat’s in here?” he asked.
    â€œProbably a portal to another dimension?”
    Miles knocked on the door. “Mr. Autumn, are you in there?”
    â€œUncle Hal!” I yelled. “It’s me! Charlie! We’re going to open this door! Don’t shoot!”
    There was no answer, so Miles eased the door open and peered inside. I took a step back.
    â€œJust a bathroom,” he said, and marched back into the middle of the room. “This doesn’t make any sense. I thought you said he was living in here.”
    â€œThat’s what my mom said, but who knows.”
    â€œMaybe he’s set up camp in the woods,” Miles said. “It would explain why we haven’t seen him since last night.”
    â€œYeah, maybe, but why would he have a lifetime’s supply of canned food stuffed in the pantry if he was living out in the woods? That doesn’t seem normal, does it?”
    Miles was about to answer when Mom marched in, making my heart actually stop beating for about three seconds.
    â€œWhat are you two doing in here?”
    â€œYou shouldn’t sneak up on people like that,” I said, pounding on my chest to get my heart started again. “Especially when they’re busy snooping around in a crazy man’s room.”
    â€œI thought I told you to respect Hal’s privacy,” she said.
    â€œAren’t you concerned about your brother’s welfare?” I asked. “Your only brother’s welfare? I hate to break it to you, Mom, but he may have disappeared.”
    â€œHe hasn’t disappeared just because he’s not in his room.”
    â€œThere’s nothing in his room,” I said. “Isn’t that strange?”
    â€œWhen it comes to Hal, that’s only a little strange.”
    â€œHe might be hurt,” Miles said.
    â€œThank you for your concern, Miles,” she said, “but unless you’d like to pitch in and start scraping paint, I’m going to have to ask you to come back another time.”
    â€œI’d be happy to help,” Miles said.
    â€œOh man, that’s a huge mistake,” I said.
    â€œI can’t pay you anything,” Mom added.
    â€œThat’s fine, Ms. Autumn. I love manual labor. Plus, maybe this will make up for the way I disturbed you last night.”
    Mom sighed. “I think we have an extra scraper in the truck.”
    â€œYou’re not seriously going to spend your day scraping paint?” I said, trudging back into the kitchen behind Miles.
    â€œIt’ll give me a chance to see if Hal comes back,” he whispered. “I need to know.”
    Saturday, 4:05 p.m.
    We spent the rest of the afternoon scraping paint off the exterior of the inn, and I felt like a huge wad of Jell-O when Mom finally called us in at four o’clock. There was a cooler, stuffed with bottles of soda and ice, sitting just inside the kitchen door. Johnny and I each grabbed a bot-tle, Lilith declined (adding that she’d never contaminate herself with that junk) and Miles stood in the doorway.
    â€œCharlie, did you put on any sunscreen today?” Mom asked.
    â€œA smidge,” I said, opening the soda and chugging back half the bottle.
    â€œWhen?”
    â€œAbout six hours ago,” I said and burped loudly.
    â€œYou should have reapplied,” she said, frowning. “You look like a boiled lobster.”
    â€œI feel like one, too,” I said, and finished off the rest of my drink. “Maybe I should take the day off tomorrow. You know, just to make sure the skin peels off evenly.”
    â€œWe talked about this, Charlie. We can’t