Root: Part II, Chapter 3

Hasta and her friends discover they’re not alone inside their night-bound high school, and Juan decides to take a certain matter into his own hands.

For more on this project, please see “This Year a Serial Takes Root.”

3.0 Hasta

Hasta froze in the sudden blackness. Juan bumped into her from behind. “Oof!” she said, groping for the edge of the counter to steady herself. “Watch it.”

“What happened?” asked Juan, a note of panic in his voice. “Ivan, did you turn the lights off?”

“Wasn’t me,” Ivan said from …