CHAPTER 19: HOME PLATE
Halcyon Field’s gates stood open.
Rain fell through the broken roof.
The stadium seats were empty, but the scoreboard lights illuminated the field.
Ethan carried the Midnight Bat.
Ava walked beside him.
Bianca, Ward, and Arthur followed several steps behind.
“Stay near the tunnel,” Ethan told them.
Ava refused to release his hand.
“You said we stay together.”
He could not argue with that.
They crossed the wet grass toward home plate.
A speaker crackled above them.
“Place the bat on the ground.”
The voice had been electronically distorted.
Ethan stopped.
“Show me my mother.”
A spotlight turned toward the dugout.
Margaret sat tied to a chair.
A dark cloth covered her mouth.
Ava ran forward.
“Grandma!”
Ethan caught her.
“Wait.”
Another light revealed Conrad on the opposite side of the field.
He was lying unconscious near first base.
Bianca started toward him.
The speaker crackled again.
“Anyone moves, both of them die.”
Ethan placed the bat beside home plate.
A metal compartment opened beneath the dirt.
The bat rolled inside and disappeared.
“What now?” Ethan shouted.
“Use the key.”
Dane stepped from the tunnel behind them.
He held the brass key and a pistol.
Ethan moved in front of Ava.
“You killed Claire.”
Dane shook his head.
“I followed her to the stadium. She escaped with Samuel.”
“Why should I believe you?”
“Because I have spent four years searching for them too.”
Bianca stared at him.
“You are a Northstar survivor.”
Dane’s jaw tightened.
“That is what Ward claims.”
Ward raised the silver cane.
“The records confirm it.”
Dane pointed the gun toward him.
“Your records are the reason children were hunted.”
“I tried to save you.”
“You watched them change our names.”
The scoreboard clock changed.
11:52.
Dane inserted the brass key into a lock beneath home plate.
Nothing happened.
A mechanical voice spoke from below.
SECOND IDENTIFIER REQUIRED.
Everyone looked toward Ava’s necklace.
Ethan shook his head.
“No.”
Margaret struggled against the chair.
The cloth slipped from her mouth.
“Ethan, don’t open it!”
A gunshot rang out.
Margaret’s chair fell backward.
May you like
Ava screamed.
And the stadium lights went black.
