“I was riding my bike by my house,” Ron said. “There was a woman in the road—she came out of nowhere, and I fell off the bike, I was trying not to hit her.” He gestured to his knees, and Jessica noticed for the first time that they were scabbed over. He’s been here long enough for those to heal, she thought, but held her tongue, afraid if she interrupted he would stop talking altogether. “When I got up, she was standing over me,” Ron continued. “I thought she was trying to help. I told her I was okay, and she smiled, and then …” He glanced down at the girl on his lap for a moment, then went on. “I swear, honest, her stomach split right open, and there was this big metal thing that came out of it, and—” He shook his head. “She’s not going to believe us.”

“Did the thing grab you and pull you inside?” Jessica asked softly, and he looked up at her in surprise.

“Yeah,” he said. “Did she get you, too?” he asked.

“No, but I’ve seen it happen,” she said half-truthfully. “Then what?”

“I don’t know. Next thing I remember I woke up in here.”

“What about her?” Jessica gestured to the girl on his lap. He shrugged, looking briefly embarrassed.

“As soon as she woke up, she climbed onto my lap.”

“Do you know her?”

“You mean from before?” He looked down at the little girl again.

“No, none of us knew one another before,” Alanna said. Jessica looked at the little blond boy, and he looked away.

“Okay, well listen,” Jessica said, and they all turned their eyes to her again. Creepy. Like I’m really a grown-up or something, she thought uneasily. She took a deep breath. “I’ve dealt with … things like this before.”

“Really?” Alanna was suddenly skeptical; Ron watched her warily. Lisa opened one eye, then pressed her face back into Ron’s shirt.

“I’m not with them,” Jessica said hurriedly. “I’m locked in here with you because I got caught trying to find out more about them.”

“Did you know about us?” Ron asked.

“Not much, but I’m glad that I found you—everybody’s been looking for you. The people who took you, they’re trying to hurt a friend of mine—they already have hurt her—and I came here to stop them, to save her from them. Now that I know you’re here, I’m going to save you from them, too.”

“You’re locked in here, just like us,” Alanna said, this time like she believed it. Jessica suppressed a smile, momentarily amused.