Dash and Seek Read online

  Dash and Seek

  A Novel by Amy Koto

  Copyright © 2020 by Amy Koto

  All rights reserved.

  The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book without permission is a theft of the author’s intellectual property. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.

  For my best friend, Honey, who is my horror movie sidekick and my own mischievous partner in crime.

  Chapter 1

  October 11th 2019

  Rule number one: Drive together, stay together.

  Rule number two: Windows down with the music turned up.

  Rule number three: Never ride alone…

  “Ready or not, let’s have some fun!” Maggie shouted, releasing a wild shriek. She tossed back her platinum blonde hair, several hot pink extensions peeking out from underneath.

  “Are we really going to play Dash and Seek on our first holiday weekend back from school?” Derek asked, crossing his chiseled arms in slight defiance.

  “I don’t know about you guys, but I’m broke,” Ana chimed in.

  “Me too,” Tomi added, shaking her head in agreement. “Besides, Dash and Seek is a lot of fun. I’ve actually really missed playing it with you guys. I tried to tell my roommate about it, but she didn’t seem too interested.”

  “It’s one of those games you really have to experience for yourself to get the full effect,” Evie explained, inching closer to Tomi. She planted a soft kiss on her recently glossed lips. “Don’t sweat it, babe.”

  “So, it’s settled then?” Maggie asked impatiently, leaning over the hood of Shane’s sparkling white BMW M4.

  “I just had this car detailed, girl,” Shane whined, sticking his head out the window.

  “Settled!” Ana cried out, jumping into Derek’s dated red minivan. She slid the door shut with conviction.

  “Whoa, watch out for that minivan,” Shane joked.

  “It’s a minivan sport!” Derek cried out defensively.

  Tomi clasped her hand within Evie’s, as they made their way over to Tomi’s silver Mini Cooper, buckling their seatbelts in perfect unison.

  All three cars were parked in the center of the Pearl Bay Beach parking lot, engines purring with anticipation. The headlights were almost blinding, except for the ones on Derek’s minivan, which gave off faded rays of light that seemed to be on their last lives. The waves were crashing against the shore in a steady rhythm while the crescent moon peered out of the ink black sky. An autumn breeze sliced through the air, as Tomi rolled up her window halfway to stay warm.

  “So, who wants to be it this time?” Ana asked; raising her voice slightly to be heard over Shane’s revving engine.

  “Not it!” Maggie shouted.

  Ana rolled her warm brown eyes in slight annoyance, her eyelashes fluttering.

  “We’re up for it!” Tomi cried. Evie leaned over the driver’s seat and stuck her tongue out at Maggie playfully.

  “Fine, losers. You know the deal,” Maggie said. “You have fifteen minutes to find your hiding spot. Once you park the car, you cannot change your location!”

  “We can’t?” Evie asked innocently, mocking Maggie slightly.

  “Once you’re at the location, send us a group text with your clue and we’ll start our own countdown,” Maggie continued, opting to ignore Evie’s sarcasm for now.

  “You’ll never find us!” Tomi cried out, laughing loudly before covering up a small snort, which caused Evie to start giggling as well, as if it were contagious.

  “I can’t wait to play my victory music!” Derek yelled out, joining in on the fun.

  “Oh no, not DJ Khaled’s All I Do Is Win again,” Ana complained, placing her palm on her forehead while shaking her head with disapproval.

  “You love that song,” Derek said to Ana, flashing a charming smile.

  “Ready, guys?” Tomi cried out, beeping her horn repeatedly.

  “Good luck!” Ana said, waving enthusiastically at her friends.

  Tomi peeled out of the parking lot, honking the horn several more times, as she zipped toward the parking lot exit. Evie fiddled with her iPod, skimming through their playlist. She decided on Demi Lovato’s Confident, grinning at her girlfriend coyly.

  “Oh, that’s perfect!” Tomi cried out. “Turn it up!”

  Evie turned the volume knob, the bass now vibrating through the car in a fixed rhythm, as they both began singing along loudly. They rolled down their windows and allowed the breeze to rush through their hair without a care in the world.

  “Where should we go?” Evie asked. “I feel like we should pick somewhere to annoy Maggie. She seemed a little bossier than normal tonight.”

  “Good idea,” Tomi agreed. She bit her bottom lip in concentration, tapping her hands to the beat of the song on the steering wheel.

  “She hates clowns and the Pearl Bay Fright Park is only a few minutes away. We could park by the back entrance or maybe see if Ryan is working tonight. I’m sure he would let us use an employee parking spot to really throw them off,” Evie suggested.

  “It’s not a bad idea, but I feel like it should be a little bit more personal,” Tomi said, scrunching her face into concentration, her dark eyebrows arching to the top of her head.

  “You don’t think…” Evie began, as an idea suddenly surfaced in her mind.

  “Kelsey’s house,” Evie and Tomi said in perfect unison.

  “Jinx!” Tomi cried out. “How are we always on the same page? I love that about us.”

  “Me too,” Evie said, a cherry color now staining her freckled face.

  “Maggie hates Kelsey, but do you think it’s going too far?” Evie asked.

  “We’re just going to park outside of her house. It’s not like we’re going to ring the doorbell or anything,” Tomi explained. “Maggie will get over it. She’s so cryptic about why she hates Kelsey anyway. Apparently, there was some drama at a sleepover party, but who knows? Anyway, we’re just shaking things up. It’s all in harmless fun.”

  “You’re right,” Evie said, her voice trailing off slightly. She closed her eyes, temporarily losing herself in the music. Tomi waited patiently at a red light, continuing to sing loudly.

  Pearl Bay, New York was a small town, but it seemed liked there were traffic lights and stop signs every few feet. It was one of those towns where everyone pretty much knew everyone, which sometimes was exhausting. A secret was dangerous in a town like this and those friendly faces seen everyday could easily turn on someone without warning.

  True friendship was about more than shared interests and being cordial. It was about being there for one another and showing up when it really mattered. True friends didn’t worry about ruffling feathers in town or hushed whispers. They held their heads high and had each other’s backs through it all, refusing to give in to the pressure of fake appearances and reputation.

  Over the years, Evie and her friends had become inseparable. They met in middle school after they had been randomly grouped together for a class project. Each one of them couldn’t have been more different and yet they somehow all bonded together. Inside jokes and deep conversations quickly developed into loyalty and friendship. Saving a seat at their favorite lunch table grew into horror movie night marathons and trips down to the beach. When they all got their licenses, they would play Dash and Seek until curfew. The rules they created formed this unspoken pact between them all. In some way, they had all been searching for something greater and they found it within their friendship. But once they all went their separate ways after high school, the bond began to slowly fade.

  They still clung to their friendsh
ips with one another, but they were all drifting apart, even if they didn’t want to admit it. When they all played Dash and Seek together, it transported them back to the school lunch table again. Whether it was an escape or a security blanket, they remembered a time when things were simpler. But they weren’t those same kids in the cafeteria.

  Not anymore.

  The traffic light finally shifted to green, as Tomi soared forward, passing a small shopping plaza on her left before they entered into the suburban area of town. Identical cookie cutter houses were lined parallel in front of them, surrounded in lawns manicured to perfection.

  “She lives on Peach Apple Lane, right?” Tomi asked, snapping Evie back to reality.

  “Yeah. I think she lives all the way at the bottom of the hill. That actually works out because if they drive to the top of the street and look down, they might not even see our car at all,” Evie answered, carefully calculating the plan in her head.

  Tomi put on her turn signal, which began clicking obnoxiously, as she slowly drove down the hill. The street was mostly dark, but several lampposts lined the sidewalk, radiating dim lights set at a low wattage. Tomi approached Kelsey’s house, which was perched at the very bottom of the hill, and decided to parallel park behind the car in front of it. She switched off the engine and headlights, turning to face Evie. Her brown eyes flashed with excitement, as she took out her phone, the screen light immediately illuminating the dark car.

  “Perfect. We even made it here with a few minutes to spare,” Tomi said, glancing at the timer she had set on her phone. “What should our clue be?”

  “Well, we want to get Maggie’s attention, right?” Evie asked, running her fingers through her own chestnut shoulder length hair. “The site of Maggie’s biggest rival?”

  “I think that’s too easy,” Tomi said after careful consideration. “How about…the night a rivalry was born over a pillow fight?” Her brown eyes lit up, now clapping her hands repeatedly.

  “Oh, that’s good,” Evie said. “We all had a lot of disasters at slumber parties though.”

  “You never even made it through one!” Tomi said. “You always used to call your mom to come and get you.”

  “I like sleeping in my own bed,” Evie said with a shrug.

  “Well, I think that’s adorable,” Tomi agreed, leaning in to kiss Evie sweetly on her lips. “As long as I’m in the bed with you.”

  Evie and Tomi parted, only inches away from each other, while Tomi’s eyes lit up after pressing send on her phone to deliver the clue. In a moment, their phones started beeping repeatedly in unison, as several responses flooded in.

  “Ooh, Derek thinks he knows!” Tomi said with a squeal.

  “I feel like Ana probably figured it out and he’s taking the credit,” Evie said, shaking her head.

  “Maggie isn’t saying anything though,” Tomi commented, scrolling through the group text.

  “She’s a competitor. I’m sure she figured it out,” Evie said.

  “Here we go,” Tomi said, holding her phone up above the center console to display the texts.

  Derek: One…one…thousand.

  Ana: Two…one…thousand.

  Maggie: Three…one…thousand.

  Shane: Ready or not…let’s have some fun!!!

  Tomi: Dash and Seek. Good luck!!!

  Evie smiled and stared out the front windshield while Tomi began bobbing her head up and down to the music. Evie’s eyes wandered over to Kelsey’s house when a light suddenly went on inside, illuminating the entire living room in front of them. Evie ducked down in her seat nervously, which finally captured Tomi’s attention.

  “Evie, what is it?” Tomi asked with concern, now also staring into the living room.

  Kelsey’s mom was pacing back and forth, throwing her arms up above her head while shouting.

  “Who is she talking to?” Tomi asked.

  “I think we should get out of here,” Evie suggested.

  “They can’t see us and it’s a public street. You worry too much,” Tomi said dismissively.

  “Yeah and you know why,” Evie argued.

  Before Evie could say another word, Kelsey’s mom screamed as a figure dressed in black now stepped into the light. She frantically turned to run away, but someone else was behind her, gripping her arms with force. A charcoal colored blur was held out in front of her face, as Evie and Tomi inched closer in their seats.

  “Evie, what is that?” Tomi asked, her voice now shaking.

  “It’s…it’s a gun,” Evie whispered, suddenly realizing that the two figures were intruders.

  “We have to do something!” Tomi cried. “We have to do something right now!”

  “Be quiet,” Evie hissed, clamping her hand over Tomi’s mouth. She met her gaze with understanding, desperately trying to silence her. Tomi’s muffled cries stopped, as her breathing now escalated, her heartbeat drumming against her chest. Her eyes widened in fear, as Evie finally released her grip on Tomi’s mouth.

  “Let’s call the police,” Evie whispered, motioning to the cell phone.

  “I want to get out of here first,” Tomi said, reaching for the ignition.

  “No!” Evie said sharply, grabbing Tomi’s wrist. “They’ll hear the car start. We have to do this right or they could come after us too.”

  Tomi nodded and slowly reached for her phone. A loud popping noise filled their ears, as several gunshots were released. It sounded like crackling fireworks up close, but there was something almost deafening about the shots, ripping through the air with finality. Tomi’s eyes widened in horror as her arms began flailing around the car. Before Evie could attempt to calm her down, Tomi’s hand hit the high beams. A blinding light traveled from their car toward the living room window like a spotlight.

  “Oh my god!” Tomi cried out, shutting off the lights immediately.

  The two figures approached the window, staring out at the car.

  “We have to get out of here,” Evie whispered.

  “I can’t do it,” Tomi cried. “I’m scared, Evie.”

  The fear rushed through Evie as well when she heard the garage door opening in front of them. It pulsed through her uncontrollably, but Tomi was already scared enough for the both of them.

  She had to act now or it would be too late.

  Evie knew she needed to let the fear in temporarily, but she would not allow it to take complete control. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She opened her mouth, her voice cracking and wavering:

  “One…one…thousand. Two…one…thousand. Three…one…thousand...”

  Chapter 2

  “Move to the back seat!” Evie cried, allowing her instincts to kick into high gear.

  “What…I…I can’t,” Tomi stammered in between sobs.

  “Tomi, look at me,” Evie said, meeting Tomi’s gaze with intensity. “You can do this.”

  Tomi nodded and crawled into the back seat of the car, squeezing her petite frame past the driver’s seat. Without thinking any further, Evie shifted her body over to the driver’s seat, immediately throwing the car into reverse. The car peeled out loudly, as she spun the wheel several times, adrenaline rushing through her veins. Two figures with ski masks emerged from the garage, staring intently at Tomi’s car.

  “Evie, look out!” Tomi cried.

  Evie stepped on the gas and drove past them, as several lights turned on in the house next door. She kept her eyes fixated on the road, swerving past the two intruders, who were now a blur in the rearview mirror, fading into darkness. Evie accelerated up the hill, refusing to slow down. She began turning on different side streets randomly, desperate to ensure that they were not being followed.

  “Evie, slow down!” Tomi cried.

  “I will, babe. As soon as I get us to safety,” Evie explained, keeping her eyes alert and focused.

  Evie gripped the steering wheel tighter, almost like she wanted to channel her strength through it, praying that she was making the right call. She knew that if they
were being followed, their best chance at escape would be to take an unlikely route. Evie had been playing Dash and Seek since she first got her driver’s license and she knew every back road in Pearl Bay. Everyone used to love trick-or-treating in this neighborhood because all of the streets were connected, leading to an endless amount of houses with candy. They were several different roads that led to an exit off of Route 16, which was the only main road in town, but Evie didn’t know which one to choose.

  “Evie, I’m not even sure they had a car,” Tomi cried out.

  “We can’t take any chances,” Evie explained, turning the car to the left on instinct before finally approaching the exit to the main road.

  Evie inhaled deeply and quickly redirected her gaze to the rearview mirror, worrying that dangerous headlights would appear behind them, but they were alone. Her chest heaved in and out as she inched toward Route 16 cautiously. A blaring noise from Tomi’s phone suddenly startled her, causing her to scream in panic.

  “It’s just the alarm for the game,” Tomi explained, her voice now returning to normal. “We’re safe, Evie. We’re safe.”

  Evie extended her arm to the back and squeezed Tomi’s hand, nodding at her with understanding. She drove back toward the Pearl Bay Beach parking lot, occasionally glancing in the rearview mirror to guarantee that they were not being followed by anyone suspicious. The drive took about five minutes, but Evie felt like they had been driving for hours, almost like they had been stuck in slow motion.

  “Hello?” Tomi said into her phone, snapping Evie out of her trance. “No, just meet us back at the beach.”

  “I almost forgot about everyone else,” Evie said absentmindedly, pulling into the parking lot.

  The parking lot was almost empty now, but several trucks were lined up against the marina. Evie parked the car closer to the water and turned off the ignition, finally taking a moment to catch her breath. Tomi climbed back into the passenger seat and hugged Evie tightly, stroking her hair softly.

  Before they could say anything about what happened, Shane’s BMW pulled into the parking spot next to them, followed by Derek’s minivan. Car doors opened and shut, but Evie’s hand hesitated against the handle, wondering what she was going to say.