Something familiar about the woman looming over her. There wasn't enough light to make out the features of her face, but Shannon was certain she'd seen her before: blond hair, wide shoulders, large breasts, slender waist, strong-looking arms and legs...

Her!

One of the three who'd attacked them in the living room.

I didn't just see her before, I fought with her.

Shannon remembered being thrown to the floor by her, wrestling with her and Bryce while Simone held Laura at bay with a hatchet. This had been the one with the rope. But she hadn't tied them with it; she'd gone upstairs after Hunter.

Just before taking them away, Bryce had called upstairs to her, Called her by name. Lenore? No, that wasn't quite it. Eleanor. She'd told them to go on without her, and Bryce and Simone had smiled about it. Smiles nasty with the knowledge of what Eleanor intended to do with Hunter.

Probably along the same lines of what they did to us in the woods Shannon thought.

But this isn't Hunter.

Did she kill him?

"What's... happening?" Laura asked. She didn't seem to be crying anymore, but Shannon heard pain in the low huskiness of her voice.

"One of our pals is here," Shannon whispered, "The big blonde."

"With the sword?"

"Yeah. But no sword now."

"How's Hunter?"

"Don't know. He's not here. She has some girl with her."

"Connie?"

"Who?"

"Hunter's... girlfriend."

"I don't think so. She looks too young."

One of the robed figures bent over the girl and grabbed her by the wrists. As he dragged her to the line of kneeling kids, Fain and Eleanor turned away from the other two members of their group. They walked side by side toward Shannon and Laura.

"Here comes trouble," Shannon muttered.

Laura moaned.

Fain had a flashlight in one hand, her belt in the other. She led Eleanor in a circle around Shannon and Laura, shining the light on them.

"These are the two from the house," Eleanor said.

"But you didn't bring them here?"

She shook her head. "Bryce and Simone. I stayed behind to take care of the kid."

"So these two belong to Bryce and Simone?"

"Right."

Fain bent down and picked up her robe. Putting it on, she said, "They almost got away. I found them way over there."

"Would've been too bad for the dynamic duo."

Fain chuckled. She bent over, pulled the sheathed dagger out of her boot, and slipped it onto her belt.

"Where are they, anyhow?" Eleanor asked.

"No idea. Looks like they just came back to dump their catch, then took off again."

"Looks like they did more than dump 'em off."

"They like their fun."

"Don't we all."

"Have you seen them around?"

Eleanor shook her head. "They probably went into the streets to look for some younger stuff."

"Don't blame them. These two're getting up there."

Up there? I'm twenty-six!

"My kid's a little older than I'd like," Eleanor said, "but she sorta fell into my hands. I want to go back, myself. She was with some other kids. Three of 'em. They'd be good. Girls maybe seventeen and thirteen, and a little boy around seven or eight. We get them, we'll be all set no matter what the others bring in."

"Want some help?"

"Long as I get the boy."

"No problem," Fain said. "I've already got a six-year-old for myself."

Still talking, they began to walk away.

Shannon caught bits and pieces of their conversation, "... always use more..."

"... younger..."

"... no telling how many..."

"... or none at all..."

"... to have extras..."

"... weed out the older stuff..."

Though Shannon was tempted to call out and ask what had happened to Hunter, she remained silent rather than draw unnecessary attention to herself and Laura.

Besides, maybe it was better not to know.

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE.

When Rhonda pushed the doorbell, Mandy heard it ringing inside the house.

"They gotta come to the door," Bret said.

"They don't gotta" Mandy told him. "They didn't last time."

"That's 'cause they didn't know it was me." He set down his bag of candy, cupped his hands to the sides of his mouth and shouted, "LAURA! SHANNON! IT'S ME, BRET WILSON! YOU HOME? OPEN UP, OKAY?"

"Don't say that," Mandy warned him.

Bret shrugged.

No sounds came from inside the house. The door stayed shut.

Rhonda called out, "HELLO? I'M RHONDA GALE! I'M WITH BRET AND MANDY. WE'RE LOOKING FOR SO ME MISSING KIDS!"

The moment Rhonda's voice stopped, Mandy heard the metallic snik-snak of a deadbolt snapping back. Through the screen, she saw the wooden door swing open. A boy stood in the doorway holding a towel in one hand. He looked old enough to be a high schooler. He didn't have a shirt on, but he was wearing a paisley scarf around his head and a shiny green lash around the waist of his jeans, so Mandy figured maybe he was supposed to be a pirate. He even had a wound on his chest, but it wasn't bleeding. A beat-up pirate at the end of a hard battle.

"Rhonda?" he asked.

"Hi," she said.

"I'm Hunter Gordon."

"I've seen you around school," she said.

"You have?" He seemed surprised.

"A junior, right?"

"Yeah." He pushed open the screen door and stepped out onto the porch.

"These are my friends, Bret and Mandy."

"Hi," Hunter said. He nodded at Bret, then looked at Mandy and smiled. "Nice to meet you. Both of you."

Suddenly feeling strange, Mandy said, "Same here."

"We came to see Laura and Shannon," Bret said.

"They aren't here right now."

"What'd you do to them?"

"Bret, stop it." Blushing, she looked into Hunter's eyes. "I'm sorry. Bret can be..."

"But he must've..."

"I didn't do anything to them," Hunter said. "They got abducted."

Bret's mouth fell open. "By aliens?"

Hunter shook his head. "Humans." To Rhonda, he said, "They went after Connie Harris, too."

"I know her. She tried out for cheerleaders."

"Well, they chased me and her. Earlier. I got away, but I think they might've caught Connie. And I know they grabbed Shannon and Laura. You said some kids are missing?"

"My brother and two of his friends."

"Gary, Rosie and Doug," Bret tossed in.

"They might've gotten taken, too."

"What do you mean?" Rhonda asked.

"I don't really know what it's all about, but there's this weird cult over in the graveyard. I think they're grabbing people for some sort of special midnight ceremony. A sacrifice. They're planning to sacrifice everyone they can find."

Rhonda's mouth hung open. "You mean like kill them?"

"I think so."

"Tonight?" Mandy asked.

Nodding, Hunter looked at her. It gave her a funny feeling, and she liked it.

Rhonda said, "What for?"

"I don't know. But they're really interested in young people, This gal said maybe I could get Connie and Shannon and Laura back by trading little kids for them."

"They want to sacrifice children?" Rhonda seemed appalled.

"Yeah, that's the idea."