Page 29 of The Tracker's Dawn: Sunderverse
Lockdown. Hostile situation.My mind raced. What exactly was going on? An active shooter? Something else? A terrible feeling crawled over my skin.
I turned to Eric. “Is there a TV anywhere in the house?” I’d never seen one anywhere, so I had no idea.
He hurried to one corner of the kitchen and pressed a button on the wall. A device lowered itself from the bottom of the corner cabinet. It looked more like a computer than a TV. He reached inside a drawer, pulled out a remote control, and clicked the TV on. He scanned through a few channels and stopped when he got to the local news.
A red banner scrolled across the screen readingRoosevelt High School in emergency lockdown.
The image depicted an aerial view of Lucia’s high school—the same one my siblings and I had attended—surrounded by armed cops, their cruisers parked all around the building, blue and red lights flashing.
A woman reporter in a smart dress came on the screen next.
“The nature of the emergency is unclear, but a student that was able to get out of the school before it all began says he saw something that chilled him to the very bones.”
“Antonietta, are you still there?” Mom asked.
“Just a sec.”
The screen flashed again, and this time, a pimply kid appeared. His eyes were wide with fear, and he kept glancing from the camera to the school over his shoulder.
“I’ve never seen anything like that before,”he said. “I asked for permission to get my homework out of my car, so I came outside. Then I heard a super loud crash behind me, and when I looked, there was this huge... monster smashing down the door. It tore it off the freaking hinges like it was nothing and flung it down.”
The screen switched to the image of a battered door lying on the ground, then back to the kid.
“I already told you I don’t know what it was, but there were more. They hauled ass after the first one got rid of the door. I just hid in my car and dialed the cops.”
Eric muted the TV. A ringing had started in my ears as soon as the kid explained what he’d seen. My hands were sweaty, and my heart thudded out of control.
“It’s the hybrids,” Rosalina said in a quick breath.
“That fucking witch!” Jake exclaimed.
“She’s not an alpha, so how can she command them?” Eric wondered out loud, lost in his own thoughts.
I muted the phone. “She’s targeting my sister,” I said, not a hint of doubt in my mind.
No one tried to deny it. How could they? What was the likelihood of my sister’s school being attacked by hybrids?
“She wants revenge, and she’ll stop at nothing to get it,” I added, still standing frozen in place. With a jolt, I came back to my senses and unmuted the phone. “Mom, I’m going there. You stay put. I’ll call you.”
She started to protest, but I disconnected the call.
I didn’t wait to judge anyone’s reaction. I just ran out of the kitchen and headed for the garage. I was about to fleet there when I heard footsteps behind me. I glanced back just as Eric got ahead of me.
“I’ll drive,” he said. “Your two-door Camaro, it’s a bitch.”
Everyone else was hot on my heels, even Rosalina.
“You needed rest,” I protested.
She shook her head. “No way in hell I’m staying.”
Within minutes, the five of us were stuffed in Eric’s black sedan. He drove while Damien sat on the passenger seat and Rosalina, Jake, and I occupied the backseat. When we got close, I gave Eric a few directions toward the high school.
A few moments later, he brought the car to a halt behind a line of vehicles blocking the street. From the looks of it, we weren’t the only ones who had rushed here after hearing of the awful events on television.
I jumped out of the car and rushed toward the school down a familiar street. It led straight to the front of the high school.
“Excuse me. Excuse me,” I pushed past several people, the others following close behind.
