Read The Vanishing Girl for Free Online

camping equipment. Pierce had long ago been written along the brown canvas straps that crisscrossed it. I smiled sadly at my mom’s handwriting.
    The other was my purple suitcase, what I normally took when my family went on trips. They’d packed my things for me, probably while I ran.
    My eyes drifted from the luggage to the rest of the room. White walls, brown threadbare carpet — the kind that portable classrooms came with — and a bed fitted with white sheets and a rough wool blanket.
    Forlorn. That was the word I’d use to describe my room. It looked like it was made to fit multiple occupants, but only my single, lonely bed sat in the corner, along with a single desk and dresser.
    On the wall that ran to my left, a narrow door opened into a bathroom. At least I got my own shower.
    “Ready for a brief tour of the facility?” Debbie asked from the doorway.
    I shrugged. “Sure.” I didn’t have much else to do.
    “Now, what kind of attitude is that?” Debbie smiled as she said it.
    I just stared at her.
    She coughed. “Okay, right this way.”
    We left the dormitory and walked to the dining hall. It looked nearly identical to my school’s cafeteria with its linoleum floors and faux wooden tables. Dismal.
    “Here’s the dining hall. Meals are at seven a.m., noon, and five p.m. Miss them and you’ll go hungry. We make announcements during mealtime, so it’s important to get here on time.
    “Your parents packed your laptop and gave us your email address earlier today, so as soon as we enter it into our roster, you’ll start receiving emails.”
    My throat constricted at the reminder that I was now far away from my family.
    “Your class schedule and any assignments your instructors give you will be emailed to that account, so make sure to check it regularly. Until it’s entered in, you’ll have to rely on your partner for that information.”
    “Partner?” I kept the budding panic out of my voice. I didn’t want a partner. I didn’t want friends period. I may have to be here, but that didn’t mean I’d have to enjoy it.
    Debbie smiled, and although she had been kind to me since we meet, this was the first time genuine warmth filled her face. “I believe you’ve already met him.”
    “ Caden? ” I asked, jumping to the only other teleporter I’d ever met.
    She nodded.
    No. No, no, no. “You’re kidding, right?”
    “’Fraid not.” She sounded way too cheerful about that. As though there wasn’t a conflict of interest here, such as him being the guy who cuffed me and dragged me into this whole mess. If not for him, I’d be on my way to Mexico right now.
    “And what, exactly, does a partner do?”
    Now she gave me a look that told me I should’ve already figured that one out. “They help each other out with classes, training, and eventually, missions.”
    “Missions? What are we, spies?”
    Debbie didn’t say anything to that, which made me think that was exactly what I was here for.
    “C’mon,” she said, “we have more to see.”
    We left the dining hall, and Debbie took me down another hallway lined with doors labeled numerically.
    “These are the classrooms and labs. This is where you’ll spend most of your day. All your classmates have the same abilities as you, but you each have particular talents. Your studies will be tailored to you and your classmates’ unique genetic makeup. Just like at your last school, you’ll be grouped in classes based on your age group, as opposed to your skill level.
    “Make sure you arrive to your classes on time. Each instructor has their own personal punishment for tardy students, and I can promise you it’s never fun.”
    I was becoming increasingly downtrodden. By the looks of this place, I was going to have to spend my college years reliving high school.
    It also didn’t escape my notice that the halls were empty. I may not be the only one with the ability to teleport, but by the looks of it, there weren’t many of us.
    Next we walked