THE SEVENTH CHILD WAS NEVER REPORTED MISSING
Chapter 8
The water treatment plant had been abandoned for almost twenty years.
Inside, the air smelled of rust and damp concrete.
They found a trail of footprints.
Small footprints.
Noah.
The trail led through a tunnel beneath the facility.
At the end was a steel door.
Ethan knocked.
“Noah?”
Silence.
Sarah tried again.
“Your mother sent us.”
Nothing.
Then a small voice answered.
“What’s her name?”
Sarah paused.
“Laura.”
The door opened slightly.
One blue eye appeared.
Noah Bennett.
He looked thinner than his school photograph.
His hair was dirty.
His face exhausted.
But he was alive.
Sarah lowered her weapon.
“We’re here to take you home.”
Noah shook his head.
“You can’t.”
“Why?”
“They’ll find me.”
“Who?”
Noah looked past them.
“You know.”
Ethan crouched.
“Daniel Reed?”
Noah shook his head.
“Someone worse.”
“Who?”
Noah whispered:
“The doctor.”
Sarah froze.
“Dr. Ward?”
Noah nodded.
“She started it.”
Ethan looked at Sarah.
That made no sense.
Dr. Ward had warned them.
Noah continued.
“She told us she was helping.”
“What happened?”
“She found out what they wanted.”
“And?”
“She changed the rules.”
“What rules?”
Noah looked terrified.
“She started choosing which children would disappear.”
Sarah felt sick.
“Why?”
Noah looked at her.
“Because she wanted to protect the others.”
Then footsteps echoed through the tunnel.
Noah grabbed Sarah’s arm.
“She found me.”
