“Close the door behind you,” I whispered, studying the room. The moment he did, we were plunged into darkness. I waited, hoping my eyes would adjust, until a small beam of light cut through the darkness from behind me. I turned to see Eli holding out the flashlight I had brought him, smiling proudly.

“Good thinking,” I said, and took the flashlight. “Follow me. And try to keep your feet in the prints that are already here, okay?”

“Okay.”

The bottom floor of the house was as I’d expected. Thick layers of dust were scuffed from the boots of those who’d searched the building yesterday. The stench of mold hung in the air. The house was empty except for the tiny creatures that scattered into hiding as we entered each room.

A single flight of steps led up, and they creaked from age as we ascended. On the second floor, we found a narrow hallway with a small bathroom and two bedrooms.

I tried the knob over the sink in the bathroom, and not surprisingly, nothing happened. No toilet either. The place was about as homey as the train car Eli had been stashed in, but safe. For now. We moved into the farthest room—a simple square space with a double window boarded up.

Eli looked around and placed his backpack on the ground. “I’ll take this room,” he said cheerfully.

“You’ll have to be careful with the flashlight at night,” I said, handing it back to him. “You don’t want to draw attention.”

“Got it.” He took the flashlight and flicked it off. A thin shaft of light broke through two boards at the window, giving us some light but not much. “How long will I stay here?”

“Until they’re done searching for you.”

“Who’s searching for me?” he asked.

“Everyone.”

“Why?”

I knew I didn’t have a lot of time, but I wanted answers as much as he did. “Because they believe you’re dangerous.”

Eli considered this for a moment. “But you don’t.”

Truth was, I didn’t know how I felt. “I think you’re just a boy,” I lied. That’s what I wanted to believe, even though everything about him suggested he was more.

Eli grinned. “And you believe you’re just a girl.”

“Well, no. I’m a woman.”

He stared at me and gave a funny chuckle, as if to say, That’s what I just said. He turned and squatted beside the backpack. Unzipped it. Then began to take the items out and set them on the floor around him.

“Who are you, Eli?” The words fell from my lips before I could call them back.

He looked up at me over his shoulder. “Just a boy, right?”

I wasn’t in the mood. Standing there in the dim room, I needed reassurance that I wasn’t unwittingly enabling the darkness.

“Are you dangerous?”