The local Save-A-Lot

"I’ve got it!" Seth suddenly exclaimed, jumping to his feet. "The Save-A-Lot across the street!"

"The Save-A-Lot? What’s that got to do with anything?" Claire asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Cameras! They’ve gotta have cameras on the outside. Maybe we can catch a glimpse of us on Thursday when this happened—and maybe we can catch whoever took us!" Seth said, gesturing animatedly.

"I doubt the owner will let us view the tapes," Dakota said dryly, raising an eyebrow.

"If there’s a will, there’s a way," Seth shot back. "Come on, guys."

They hurried over to the Save-A-Lot, their footsteps quick and urgent. Inside, the fluorescent lights buzzed faintly as they approached the front counter. A young, visibly pregnant clerk, scrolling on her phone, glanced up at them.

"Hello, how may I help you?" she asked, her tone polite but slightly bored.

"Yeah, we need to talk to the store manager please," Seth said, leaning casually on the counter to hide his nerves.

"About what?" the clerk asked, narrowing her eyes suspiciously.

"We’ll explain to them," Seth replied firmly, glancing back at the group for backup.

The clerk shrugged. "Uhh, okay. Hang on," She disappeared through a door marked Employees Only, leaving them standing in awkward silence.

Mia crossed her arms and shifted her weight from one foot to the other. "Do you really think this is gonna work?" she asked in a low voice.

"Trust me," Seth muttered, fidgeting with the strings of his hoodie. "I’ve got this."

A few minutes later, the clerk returned, followed by an older woman with short gray hair and a no-nonsense expression.

"I’m Mrs. Saunders, the manager of this store. What can I help you with?" she asked, her tone brisk as she gave the group a once-over.

Seth straightened up. "Well, Mrs. Saunders, we’re working on a project for our psychology course," he began, his voice taking on a rehearsed quality. "We were hoping we could use the footage from the exterior cameras to analyze and compile behavioral patterns in the public."

Mrs. Saunders raised an eyebrow, her arms crossing over her chest. "Hmm. I don’t know if that’s appropriate. You said it’s for a college class?"

"Y-yeah," Seth stammered, scratching the back of his neck. "Our senior project. We’re pretty deep into it, and we promised we’d get data from five different locations. But..." He hesitated, glancing back at the group for reassurance. "We’re only at four now, and we’ve kinda run out of places to ask," He flashed a hopeful smile, trying to seem earnest.

Mrs. Saunders studied him for a long moment, her expression unreadable. Finally, she sighed, uncrossing her arms. "Well, normally, I wouldn’t allow such a thing," she said slowly. "But since it’s for a college class, I suppose it’ll be fine."

"Thank you, Mrs. Saunders," Seth said, his tone bright and disarming. "You won’t regret this."

"Yes, yes," she muttered, pulling a jangling set of keys from her pocket. "The security room’s through that door and down the hall. Don’t mess with anything you’re not supposed to."

"Of course. Thank you again," Seth said, grabbing the keys.

The group hurried toward the indicated door, their footsteps echoing down the narrow hallway. Inside the security room, the walls were lined with monitors, each displaying a live feed of the parking lot and surrounding areas.

Seth dropped into the chair at the desk and began flipping through the footage. "Okay, let’s see," he muttered, his fingers working the controls. Mia and Dakota hovered behind him while Aaron leaned against the wall, arms crossed. Claire paced restlessly, her sneakers squeaking against the floor.

"Here’s Thursday," Seth announced, narrowing his eyes at the screen.

"Wait—there’s us!" Mia exclaimed, pointing at the monitor.

"Yep," Dakota said, leaning closer. "Look. We’re almost to the lot." Suddenly, the footage skipped. One moment, the group was walking; the next, they were gone.

"What the hell?" Mia blurted, her voice rising in alarm.

Seth frowned. "I think someone tampered with the footage," he said, his voice low and tense.

"No shit, Sherlock," Dakota muttered, rolling her eyes.

"All right, let’s keep looking," Seth said, rewinding the footage and advancing frame by frame. "There’s gotta be something."

"Hey, check this out," Aaron said, stepping closer and pointing at the screen. In one frame, the empty lot was replaced by a large, looming building. In the next frame, it was gone again.

"Okay, so the building appeared for one frame," Seth said, leaning in to study the screen.

"Does that mean someone hacked the footage to remove the time when the house was visible? How the fuck would you even do that?" Aaron inquired.

"I have no idea," Seth admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. “Let’s just screenshot the house and get out of here," Seth said, quickly saving the frame to a USB drive.

The group hurried back to the counter, where Mrs. Saunders was waiting.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" she asked, her eyes narrowing slightly.

"Yep," Seth replied, handing her the keys. "Thank you again."

"Don’t mention it," Mrs. Saunders said, waving them off.