“We saw it and then we got called away.”
What she didn’t say: “You be careful. Night’s no time to be out.”
Erika had overheard enough about those burnings, and they were girls her age, sometimes boys but more often girls, and sometimes the disappeared was someone from school. They’d learned to do the math and keep their mouths shut. The teachers certainly never talked about it. Someone would be gone and then the cheery surface would close over them and it would be, “Turn to page 68 for the reading.”
Sunday excerpts in June come from Erika and the Vampire, available in July.
E. P. Beaumont 
Intriguing 6!
Intriguing and ominous. I love the last line. Very nice.
This has got a quiet-blind-eye quality to it that is decidedly creepy. To save oneself, people are willing to ignore a lot. Looking forward to your release.
As if it never happened. Looking forward to your release 😀
Oh, that’s very creepy. Such a wonderfully dark tone to this.
Terrific use of just the right details in just the right amounts to show, rather than tell. And, yet, you haven’t really shown anything, trusting the reader to fill in the blanks. Great technique.
Intriguing six! Great job building the tension. 🙂
Disappearances, burnings – wow, very intriguing. Lovely enticing 6.
This is really chilling, culminating in this line “then the cheery surface would close over them and it would be, ‘Turn to page 68 for the reading.’” You writing has such quiet strength.
Good luck with your release, EP!