THE VILLAGE THAT NEVER LET ANYONE LEAVE
Chapter 11
They ran toward the highway.
For the first time, the road didn’t turn them around.
Trees rushed past.
The mountains opened.
Sunlight appeared.
Maya laughed.
“We’re out!”
Ethan looked behind them.
Black Hollow was disappearing into the trees.
Nora stopped.
“Keep going.”
“What about you?”
Nora smiled sadly.
“I’ve been here too long.”
Ethan refused to leave her.
But Nora pushed him toward the road.
“I finally remember my sister.”
She looked toward the mountains.
“I need to find her.”
The ground shook again.
Ethan and Maya ran.
They reached the highway.
A truck stopped.
The driver rolled down his window.
“You folks okay?”
Maya nodded.
“We got lost.”
The driver laughed.
“Everybody gets lost around here.”
Ethan looked at Maya.
Neither spoke.
They climbed into the truck.
As they drove away, Maya looked through the rear window.
Black Hollow was gone.
Completely.
No village.
No church.
No motel.
Nothing.
Just forest.
Weeks later, Ethan and Maya returned to Chicago.
They tried to forget.
They almost succeeded.
Until Ethan received an envelope.
No return address.
Inside was a photograph.
It showed him and Maya standing outside their apartment.
The photograph had been taken three days earlier.
On the back was a message.
YOU LEFT SOMETHING BEHIND.
