Hiding Pandora by Mercy Amare Read Free Book Online Page B

sneaking around, hoping not to get caught. It’s normal. They do this all the time. I’m just worried because I don’t do things like this. If I get caught, my dad and Agent Kim will be pissed. I can’t get expelled from here.
    But we won’t get caught. And even if we do, what are they going to do? Expel everybody at the fields? Because it seems like all of the junior and senior class are out here, maybe even a few sophomores and freshmen. I have no reason to worry.
    Still, I keep a hand on my gun, just in case.
    Winston, noticing my hesitation, holds out his hand to me. I accept it, this time not giving the gesture another thought. It almost feels normal, and I’ve grown to like his touch. Even though I’ve only known him two days, I like him a lot.
    I hear some shuffling in the leaves beside me and jump.
    “What was that?” I whisper to Winston.
    “It was probably a squirrel,” he says, looking out into the darkness of the trees.
    “Oh, okay,” I say, breathing a sigh of relief.
    We have a lot of squirrels in Korea, and I know that they won’t attack anybody.
    Winston lets go of my hand and pulls his phone out of his pocket. He turns on the flashlight app and shines it on the leaves.
    “See, nothing,” he says. He turns the light off and sticks it back in his pocket. He grabs my hand, and we move forward again. Hesitantly, I move my hand away from my gun. We’re safe here. I’m just being silly.
    A few seconds later, I hear something else off in the distance. Voices. But we aren’t close enough to the field to hear anybody partying. I stop dead in my tracks, and pull the gun out of my purse.
    “ Ttala hae ,” I tell Winston.
    “What?” he asks.
    “Follow me,” I say, realizing that I was speaking Korean. “Quietly.”
    I walk off into the blackness of the woods. My eyes are already adjusted, but it’s so dark that it’s hard to see out here. I walk quietly through the leaves, careful not to make a crunching noise. Winston follows my lead, walking almost as quietly. He’s a little louder than me, but he hasn’t had the training I have.
    As I walk farther, the voices get louder, and I can hear somebody shouting.
    I hold up my gun, ready to fire if needed.
    As we get closer, I hear somebody speaking in Korean.
    My heart drops.
    They found me.
    I look at Winston, and see that he looks terrified. I hold a finger up to my lips, letting him know that he should remain silent. I put my hand back on the gun and head towards the noise. My phone is tucked safely inside of my bra, ready for me to call the CIA.
    “ Where is she? ” A guy asks, speaking Korea. His Korean accent is different than mine. I can absolutely tell that this guy isn’t from South Korea.
    “I don’t know what you’re saying to me,” a male voice says back in English. He sounds absolutely terrified.
    I hear a loud smack, and the guy lets out a cry. As I get closer, I see that there is a group of Korean guys, probably about ten of them. They have an older white guy tied to a chair, and he looks scared. I wish that I could help him.
    “ Let me talk to him, ” another guy says, speaking Korean. He walks up to the guy in the chair.
    “Please, don’t kill me,” the guy in the chair says. “I have children, a wife, and grandchildren. I’ll tell you anything you want... give you anything. I have money. Just please, please, don’t kill me.”
    “Where is girl?” the guy asks, his Korean accent strong.
    “What girl?”
    The guy smacks his face and I flinch.
    The Korean guy holds up a photo. I don’t have to be close to see that it’s a photo of me.
    “I’ve never seen this girl before in my life,” the guy says, his voice shaking in fear.
    The Korean guy looks at him. “You tell me, you live.”
    “I swear, I don’t know.”
    The Korean guy looks at the other guys. “ He’s telling the truth. He doesn’t know. ”
    “ Well, she’s here. We know she is ,” another guy says back.
    “ This school is small. We will