Page 71 of We’re All Going to Die Tonight!

“He’s probably still out there,” I whisper. “He’s waiting. I’m sure—”

“Marlene, you’re inside now,” Avery says as we reach the couch. “It’s all right.”

Kaitlyn unceremoniously drops Ms. Dorman’s top half on the couch, leaving Avery holding on to her legs. She glares at Kaitlyn before trying to tuck them up onto the couch and then roll her onto her side, adjusting so she has a pillow under her head.

“Why bother?” Kaitlyn asks, checking her nails. “She’s probably a goner anyway.”

There’s that hardness. Javi’s death has made her even more dangerous.

“I don’t want her to choke on her tongue,” Avery says. I didn’t even think about that. Out of habit, I grab my phone to text my mom, but it’s gone, lost to the woods. I almost laugh, thinking about how mad Ma’s going to be—as if my lost phone is the worst of tonight’s problems.

“Right,” Avery says. “So we need a plan—”

Only, as she says the words, there’s a rumble throughout the house, a groan that freezes the three of us in place. It’s followed by a pop somewhere, and then—

The lights in the house go out, burying us in darkness.

Chapter 40

Caulder

October 17

3:11 a.m.

“There,” McCullough says, pointing ahead. “The house.”

I follow his arm, squinting in the darkness. There’re the lights outside, flickering softly, illuminating some of the front. But most of it—the majority of it—is pitch-black, as if it’s been abandoned. There’s no soft glow from the windows like there was when we left.

Terror blooms in me, coursing through every vein. Not the same terror from when I thought Emerson was attacking me. Not even the terror from when I saw Mr. Jay’s body or Javi’s jacket sleeve or Marlene’s bloody clothes. This is the terror that comes from knowing that, when we open that door…Avery might be the body we find inside.

No, I growl at myself. No, I won’t think that way. Avery can’t be dead. Hell, she probably would take one look at the killer and tell them it’s not in her plan for today, so no thank you. The thought brings on the smallest smile, and I increase my pace.

“Hang on,” McCullough says. “What happened to the power?”

He’s clearly seeing the same thing I’m seeing.

“Must be the storm,” I say, even though there’s not even mist in the air now. I hope it’s a sort of delay thing, or maybe the wind.

But McCullough isn’t convinced. He puts his arm out in front of me, making me stop.

“I don’t know about this, Caulder,” he says. “When we left, the power was on. Do you think this is some kind of signal?”

I don’t follow his logic. Cutting the power as a signal seems, well, dumb in terms of a signal, and not something I can see Avery doing. More likely, she’d try to flash a light or something.

“I doubt it,” I say. “If anything, I think this means they’re in trouble. We should hurry.”

I start to move again, but he grabs my shoulder, keeping me in place. I throw off his arm, pissed now that he’s keeping me away from Avery.

“I’m not staying out here if they’re in danger,” I snap at him. “We have to help.”

“Caulder,” McCullough says slowly. “We have to accept that they might be beyond help. Christine—Ms. Dorman—knew the risk she was taking. We have to protect ourselves.”

I stare at him like he’s grown a second head. “Fuck that. I’m going in.”

And now, I don’t give him the chance to grab me. I duck under his arm and bolt toward the house, splashing mud all over my already-soaked clothes. I race up to the door and fling myself at the knob, throwing my body into turning it.

But it’s locked.