Plain Target. Dana R. Lynn

and a T-shirt. With a prayer for their continued safety she moved into the room and lay down on the bed.

      Turning on her side, she tried to get comfortable, but her hearing aid was pressed into the side of her head. It wasn’t painful, but the sensation bothered her. Should she take the hearing aids off for the night? She always did when she went to sleep. It drained the batteries to wear them constantly. But she was almost completely deaf without them. At least with them, she could hear voices and environmental noises, even if she couldn’t make out what was being said. When had she last changed the batteries? Was it really only this morning? Calculating, she figured even if she left them in tonight, she had another three days. And she had spare batteries in her overnight bag.

      That settled it. They were staying in.

      Flopping over onto her back, she sighed.

      She didn’t expect to fall asleep, but soon found herself drifting off.

      She woke suddenly and bolted upright, heart pounding.

      Grabbing her phone, she checked the time. She had been asleep for two hours. What had wakened her? Sliding her legs over the side of her bed, she stood up and glanced around the room for some clue. Thunder rumbled and shook the house. The storm was directly overhead. That must have been what had startled her from sleep.

      While she was relieved to have an explanation, she still felt anxious and unsettled. Rushing to the door, she opened it and peered out. Darkness enveloped everything. She knew the shadow in front of her was Seth, but dread filled her. She needed to see his face, to make sure he was safe.

      “Seth?” she whispered. Her hand reached out and touched his face.

      His phone light flashed on. He brought it closer to his face, probably so she could see his lips better. Standing, he stepped just inside her doorway.

      “What’s wrong?” he said, signing at the same time.

      “I don’t know. I just suddenly felt something was wrong.”

      He started to answer her, then abruptly stopped. His head swung around to the left, and he used his phone to peer into the darkness.

      “What?”

      He made a shushing motion. Bringing the phone close enough so she could see his hands again he signed, “I think someone might have just walked out of my room.”

      “Why didn’t you notice them going into it?” she signed back.

      “I fell asleep. The storm just woke me.”

      He stood up, every movement careful, and motioned that he was going to check his room. She grabbed his arm. Was he crazy, going after some maniac by himself? Using his phone for light again, he signed. “We are trapped. We’ll be safer once we know. Wait for me in your room.”

      She wasn’t so confident that confronting her attacker would make them any safer, but it did make sense to figure out who they were dealing with. But as for waiting for him in her room... She looked back into the dark cavern beyond her doorway. Uh-uh.

      Decision made, she stepped out into the hallway and started to follow him. A frown crossed his face. But he didn’t argue.

      They crept to his room, but didn’t enter. He pointed toward the stairs and signed. She nodded to show she understood. Someone was arguing downstairs. Possibly whoever had left his room. She needed to keep close. He began to creep down the stairs, his steps exaggerated. For a second, she hesitated. She could make out the sounds of muffled voices below. The voices were too low and garbled for her to decipher much more than that. There were at least two voices, but she couldn’t even tell what gender they were.

      Seth was getting ahead of her. She watched his shadow creep down another step. She went after him, using her hands to guide her along the wall. Fortunately, there was enough light coming in from the windows on the outside wall that she could make out the outline of the steps. She took care to step as gently as she could, fighting panic, knowing she wouldn’t hear it if the stairs creaked. But whoever was at the bottom of the stairs would.

      The hair on the back of her neck stood on end. Without knowing why, Jess knew something was wrong.

      A hand grabbed her shoulder. Jess jumped, starting to turn. For a brief instant, she was aware of a slight aroma that she could not quite place. A second hand touched her back. A single hard shove propelled her toward the edge of the stairs. A scream ripped from her throat as she crashed downward into the darkness.