someday is a story

Most sat inside their polite suburban homes with the AC cranked considerably low. Johnnie Ward sat in his family’s trailer, down to his skivvies in front of the only fan, occasionally swatting his younger brother Jack out of the way of its cool breeze. Sheriff Matthews was grumbling about the broken unit at the station, fanning himself with his brown Stetson as he surveyed the ever-growing pile of paperwork upon his desk. Marie smiled cheerfully at the diner as she trained a new staff of teenagers how to properly scoop and mix one of her signature milkshakes. For most of the town, the only difference between this summer and the last was that everyone had silently agreed not to set up their swimming pools.

For Kaz Caldwell, the heat was welcoming. The cottage by the graveyard had felt colder than ever those days. The sun beating against his bare shoulders felt fairer than those fresh piles of dirt decorating their backyard. Like a garden of his own grief.

His sneakers hit the pavement rhythmically as Kaz did what he did best. It was the routines, like an afternoon jog, that kept his head on straight. No more spiraling. No more voices. Just a boy suffocating in the humid air of June to keep up with his conditioning. He had to be ready for senior year when it came. It would be his last chance to prove himself on the field after sitting out the back end of that Spring season. Because baseball mattered to him. Because it was important. 

Right?

Kaz found his way to Psychics’ Strip, like he’d grown accustomed to in recent months. Holly was outside with Maggie, weeding and preening a wild bed of flowers in their yard. Kaz watched their domesticity in silence for a moment, until Maggie caught sight of him. 

“Well hey there, Handsome,” she greeted, waving him over with a pretty smile.

“Hey Maggie,” he said as he approached, having dropped the ‘Miss’ after the hundredth time she’d insisted it made her sound old. “Hey Holly. Did y’all need any help? I was in the neighborhood and saw you working hard over here so I thought I could... be useful...” Words that didn’t sound true to anyone in that yard, but Kaz said them with a smile which was all he usually needed to do.

“Yeah, well I had to try at least once. Also, stop thinking about my speedo, perv.” Bryce offered him a bit of a smile as he continued to steal a fry then take a sip of milkshake; fry, milkshake, fry, milkshake and the pattern continued. He could understand the hesitation to be up front with the truth in front of his team like that. Bryce had been in the same position, so he sympathized. Well, he sympathized as much as it was possible for him to do so, considering it was him and this was Kaz across the table from him. There wasn’t necessarily personal beef with Kaz in particular, but sports rivalries were a thing and Bryce loved a good group hating.

As he ate, he listened, nodding along every now and again. Whatever this thing was that was after them seemed pretty damned determined to fuck up their shit. It also seemed to know what really got to them, so that was just great. “Yeah, apparently. Don’t really think I’ve figured out which one is worse; dying or watching everything get fucked up around you.” It was a dark thought, probably too dark for the current company and time, but whatever. Worst thing Kaz could do would be run off and tell Holly about what he said. Then he’d get a string of concerned text messages and maybe she would hide away in his car away – no biggie.

“Think it would do it? Actually kill one of us?”

Bryce’s words were dark, but Kaz found that he agreed. They had all lost control of their lives and were left watching helplessly as a mysterious, grinning monster ruined everything for them. 

Kaz had worked so hard to get to playoffs, showing up at practice every afternoon even with his brother’s case still open. He’d gone for morning jogs and given himself extra time on the field while watching his schoolmates drop like flies around him. Prioritizing a future he wasn’t sure he had anymore had been one of the most difficult things about that Spring and now it didn’t matter. It was taken out of his hands. Smashed before him with the crack of a bat.

He brought a hand up to rub his throbbing temple. “It killed Tommy,” he said boldly. He didn’t want to hit a nerve with Bryce, but there was no beating around that bush. “It killed Kayla, it killed Heather...” And so many other people they knew. “We’d be kidding ourselves if we thought we were special.”

Kaz studied Bryce from across the booth. Bryce would not have been his first pick for a new member of the team, but maybe he was more than a hothead who liked watersports. Everyone else in the MC had proven to be more than Kaz had known them to be. He could extend the benefit of that doubt to Bryce too, couldn’t he?

“That’s what the club is for,” he said. “We’re not monster hunters. I know maybe it looked different before, but I swear, we’re not in this to kill anything. We’re trying to figure out how to save them. And we’re totally not qualified, but... who else is gonna do it?”

Holly relaxed as their conversation changed, shifting so she could offer him some comfort. She was awkward at first as she adjusted so his head could go in her lap. It was something Maggie had always done when she had a headache and, well, maybe it would help his pain too.

Her hands were gentle as they ran through his soft curls. Slow motions to help ease the aching in between his ears. At the very least she probably wasn’t causing him anymore pain. Hopefully.

“Well given that both of my parents are doctors who own a curio shop in the middle of fuck all nowhere I don’t really think I have room to judge,” she teased. “It feels nice to be in a place that’s comfortable, I guess. I don’t feel weird being here like I do at other people’s houses. Like I stand out amongst the normalcy.”

“Your raccoon is named after Salvador Dali! I should have guessed. That’s genius.” Holly laughed, leaning down to kiss his temple quickly. “I need all the help I can get to impress your parents. I’m not exactly the girl people bring home to impress anyone.”

Holly’s gentle touch calmed most of the nerves still frayed from their conversation about prophetic nightmares and disembodied voices. It was surprisingly easy to focus on her slender fingers scratching against his scalp. If time could freeze in that moment, Kaz would have let it.

As for his parents, they had always had their own particular taste in everything - their profession, their hobbies, the people they spent time around. They were reclusive and they didn’t like many people. Holly was someone he was sure they did. Even without knowing how much she’d helped Kaz out those past couple months. Not because she was weird, but because she was smart and independent and brave. 

“I think you’re the only girl that would impress them.”

“Kaz all I’m saying is that maybe we don’t go around trusting the disembodied voices in our heads. Maybe Jamie is pretentious and annoying and controlling and unwavering and,” she paused, “I almost forgot what I was saying. Maybe he is those things. But am I? Is Edwina? Is Violet? I didn’t want to hurt you and neither did they. So when the voice in your head starts trying to turn you against us again try and remember that, please?”

Holly reached out to take his hand, squeezing it gently. It was frustrating, the situation they had both been put in, that everyone had been put in. They brought on a brand new definition of growing up way too fast. Every day that the sun rose again she grew more and more tired. With every tick of the clock she felt like their time was running short.

“He won’t believe me anyway. So maybe find some solace in that.”

She was ready to just relax and ignore all the important things they had to worry about when suddenly Kaz had offered her a new home, a place to stay. Holly blinked a few times unsure of how to answer.

“I….that’s really sweet of you Kaz. I’m as okay as I can be. Nightmares included. And maybe therapy will be good for me. Maybe I am actually going crazy,” the laugh she gave was humorless. “Thank you. I’ll think about it. I’ll definitely be around a lot more than I was before. I like your house. It feels familiar in a lot of ways. Also I really need to know the names of all the animals. It’s killing me that I can only refer to them by their species. And any place that offers me free coffee is high up on my list.”

Holly made it all sound easy, but it wasn’t. Of course he wanted to trust that his friends had his back, but really believing that was a struggle. If they were protecting him from anything else, it would have been fine. Keeping him from his brother’s case, however, was cruel. Finding a way to forgive that even without a voice whispering that he shouldn’t would have been difficult.

He focused instead on her tone change, talking about his house like it wasn’t a mausoleum of animal carcasses that his father had put in fancy outfits. He chuckled at her fondness, then winced when it sent pain through his skull.

“You know you’re the first girl I’ve ever brought home,” he told her. “I always figured my parents’ whole deal was a lot to handle, but somehow I knew you wouldn’t turn around and run to the opposite side of town.” It was a nice feeling, a sort of comfort he’d never experienced with anyone but Johnnie. It was a knowledge that this was something safe, whatever it was between them. It couldn’t be shaken by something as trivial as their parents’ professions or weird, specific interests. 

“The raccoon in the kitchen is Salvador, for a start,” he told her with a warm smile. “’Cause of the mustache, you know? If you wanna impress my dad later, tell him you know all about the melting clocks.” 

“God, if demons are the new NSA we’re in such deep shit,” Vi frowned, thinking not for the first time that she would very much prefer a non-supernatural foe. Like with the pageant girls. It would have been so much easier if it had just been a contagious case of laryngitis and a crazed serial killer running around. Fingers crossed thotgirl broke the pattern.

Watching over Kaz’s shoulder as he navigated to a site she’d never seen before in her life, Vi watched the chat fly by, only noticing when it seemed like someone had given a donation to the person currently playing a game. “Oh. So they make money doing this,” she noted, watching the chat more intently to see what people might be talking about in it. It didn’t seem like anything that substantial?

However, if thotgirl’s chat was moving as quickly as the one they were watching, and the only way to get her attention would be to spend money… which was doable to a certain level, but brought up a whole new series of questions.

“I mean, if this is an extortion attempt… we’re in high school.”

And with that remark Vi tore her eyes away from the screen, a variety of theories racing through her mind. It was only once Kaz specifically mentioned waiting for thotgirl to come online that she looked back down, mildly disappointed that there would be no easy answers right then.

“That sounds effective. Suddenly I have a whole lot more time in my schedule, so just name the date and time and I’ll kidnap Holly.”

“Yeah, I don’t really want to know what a demon would do with all of our deepest secrets,” Kaz agreed. “Although at this point, all of our deepest secrets are about demons. So what’s the devil really gonna do with my Snap password?”

The worst he could imagine was if the Evil Thing somehow found a way to broadcast the club’s activities to the world, but that would risk exposing itself. If everyone else in Normal was ignorant to the demonic, there must have been a reason for it. Otherwise the demons would all live in an apartment complex together and regularly terrorize the town together like a gang of Oogie Boogies.

“Also... it went for you and Holly first, right? No offense but if I’m gunning for funds, I’m gonna hit up Bryce or Felix,” Kaz said. “That’s simple economics.”

She, he reminded himself. Not it. She. Innocent until proven guilty and human until proven demonic. There was no point in rushing straight to paranoia when they were already juggling multiple monsters.

Kaz typed Violet a text of some tentative demon fishing dates. He worked the schedule around the Ghouls’ playoffs season, although unbeknownst to him, in 24 hours time it wouldn’t matter much anymore. Their biggest hurdle would eventually become getting Violet and Holly out of their respective 72 hour psych holds.

“One-Hundred. Yes,” Vi confirmed, narrowing her eyes as she attempted to deduce why Kaz had shifted so quickly away from concern. What was it about thotgirl that was so easy to brush off? She could straight-up be reading all of their messages! She could be dangerous. What if she ratted them out or used the information they’d collected and discussed in their private messages in some way? This was serious.

But her name was thotgirl, and therein lies the amusement. Clearly that must be the reason for the tone shift. At least Kaz was smiling? She’d brought a bit of cheer to his day in a totally unexpected way… Okay, but really. What if that was the point? What if they were supposed to brush off this streamer as some sort of joke because her name was thotgirl?

“I don’t think you can get in unless invited. That’s why we discuss stuff that outsiders should absolutely not see in our chat. I haven’t asked Felix or Bryce or anyone else, honestly, because you’re the first person we’ve brought this to. I can, but something tells me I’ll get a ‘nah, she’s hot tho’ and we’ll still have little to no answers.”

Pausing, Vi considered his last suggestion more seriously. The thought hadn’t occurred to her before, but she hadn’t had the opportunity to do much research on streaming since learning of its existence. “You can talk to streamers? How?”

Kaz’s chuckles slowly subsided once the novelty of the username wore off. He felt included for the first time in a while, especially as Violet admitted that she hadn’t talked about this with anyone but Holly. He wasn’t sure why she’d deemed him qualified or what about him said he wouldn’t say thotgirl100 was hot, but he was going to take the trust and run with it while he could. Maybe it was ‘cause he knew that hot didn’t mean friendly. 

“Yeah, so either it’s some rando who knows way too much now or it’s... something else. I guess after this Truth or Dare demon, why the hell not? God is really just making anything up these days,” Kaz said, slowly closing his locker door as he finally absorbed the situation. “Or Satan or whoever.”

Kaz didn’t spend a lot of time wondering about the larger implications of what was going on in town. It was too massive an undertaking. Better to focus on the trees than get bogged down by the immensity of the forest.

“I don’t really watch a lot of ‘em, but...” He pulled his phone from his pocket, turning his back to his locker. Opening the browser, Kaz navigated to Twitch and clicked on a currently live stream from the sidebar. He moved closer to Violet, showing her the screen. “Unless she’s got it disabled, there’s usually this chatroom on the side.” The one they were watching currently was whipping by, so quickly that Kaz found it hard to read much of anything. Every now and then someone would donate money and their message would be displayed across the streamer’s video. It looked like the only real way to get their attention.

Kaz punched in thotgirl100′s channel, but when it loaded, it was offline.

It seemed that they were at an impasse.

Clearly they were not going to agree over people’s intentions and their respective outcomes, so Vi just let his words pass without comment. On some level he had to understand her desire to completely ditch out of that topic, right?

At least Kaz seemed genuinely concerned by her proposed pivot, which was a good sign in terms of friendships deep down. He cared enough to ask, so they were probably good for the most part. That’s what she was taking from those three little words, at least. And with that, she clued him in on her and Holly’s latest finds.

“There’s this person named thotgirl100… obviously that is not her real name. But she’s been hacking her way into texts. It started with me and Holly at that party when we were talking about Sue Ann’s mom being weird - which in retrospect we were dead-on about. Then she popped into the group chat apparently. Holly says she’s a streamer, which I have recently been informed is someone who plays video games for people to watch and not just a decoration for events. It could be totally innocent and she could just be messing with us for fun, but also… clearly it would not be surprising if there was something more sinister happening.”

“THOT girl?” 

Kaz’s exclamation was slightly louder than the rest of their hushed conversation, completely contrary to his attempts to disguise their interaction with his locker door. He couldn’t help it, though. Never in his life did he think those words would come out of Violet Matthews’ mouth. 

It was so hard to hold in the laugh. He was taking this seriously, he absolutely was. Obviously if someone was hacking into phone messages, it wasn’t a good thing. Not with the confidential things the newspaper club discussed. But ‘thotgirl’, spoken in the severity of Violet’s voice, was running around in Kaz’s head. He had to bite his lip and steady his breathing not to burst out in belly laughs right there in the hallway.

“Okay...” he said, carefully, his tone strained with the effort to remain composed. A little giggle escaped him, but he quickly covered it up with his fist.

As Harvey looked around the cabin, he was startled to hear some banging. Looking over to where Kaz was, he frowned. The boy had found the mailbox, but it seemed like it wasn’t going to do them much good. Walking towards him, he involuntarily laid a hand on his shoulder as if to silently calm him and urge him to stop kicking it. The old rusted thing had nothing of importance on it - no names or numbers. “Relax,” he said calmly, reaching out towards the mailbox. His fingers traced the raised indentations of the US Postal Service on the bent kid. “This is a good sign,” he nodded assuredly, “this means there’s likely an address registered here. That’s one step closer than we were before.”

Harvey followed the line of his gaze towards the building, nose wrinkling at the sight of it. “What?” he asked as Kaz began to speak. Brow furrowing, Harvey had a feeling he wasn’t going to like whatever was about to come out of Kaz’s mouth. And he’d been right. Rubbing a hand over his face, Harvey let out a deep sigh. “Kaz,” he started, pausing as the boy suggested it wouldn’t be a problem if they tried to go in. He shook his head vigorously. “No, no, that’s still breaking and entering,” he scoffed, “This is very likely someone’s property judging by the mailbox.”

Glancing around them, Harvey became very aware of how ghostly silent it was in that part of the woods. It had made a shiver crawl up his spine. It was dark and quiet, and this place looked like right out of a horror film. If there was something inside… What are you thinking? He shook his head, trying to dispel himself of the nonsense brewing in his mind. There’s no such thing as ghosts or monsters, Harvey. He glanced back at the cabin. It was just a cabin, not the crypt of some bogeyman. Obviously.

Letting out a sigh, he took a step toward the building, pausing a moment to be sure. There weren’t any private property signs, no indication that trespassing was prohibited. Still he knew the law and he knew the rules very well. You can’t just go in there, Harvey, be smart. Sheriff Matthews would be disappointed. Any blemish on your record would put an end to becoming one of his deputies. He let out a quiet sigh and looked back at Kaz. Poor kid. He knew what he was going through. They had both been through an ordeal, and saw dear loved ones vanish seemingly out of nowhere. Harvey had been given clear answers about what happened to his friends, but Kaz? Kaz had nothing. No answers, no closure.

You’re gonna get in so much trouble.

With major reluctance, Harvey began walking towards the cabin, swallowing back the fear gripping at his chest. “Here’s what we’ll do,” he started, confidently striding up towards the entrance, “We’ll knock and see if anyone’s around… maybe someone can give us some answers.” It was a foolish idea - there was no way in hell someone actually lived there - but it was the only proper thing he could think to do. They weren’t gonna break in… not even if the door caved under the pressure of his knocks and just “fell open”.

Harvey’s hand on his shoulder absorbed some of Kaz’s frustration by osmosis - enough to settle some of that unease. He could have suggested they give up and go back to do homework, but Harvey was sticking with him and that wasn’t something Kaz came by easily those days. He appreciated it. Harvey seemed to understand why all of this was so important to him, even if the guy was ignorant to the real truth behind everything.

The suggestion that someone actually lived there currently was ludicrous, all things considered, but if that was what Harvey needed to tell himself, Kaz would play along. He couldn’t mention what had happened the last time he’d been there, when he and Jamie had gotten themselves caught in a strange whirlwind of ghostly activity. So instead, Kaz followed Harvey dutifully to the door, looking the part of a proper Boy Scout at his side as they knocked like they were selling cookies.

There was no answer, of course. Kaz was antsy in the ensuing silence, his leg twitching like he was fighting the urge to kick the door in. Pulling the action hero move wasn’t going to cut it, though. Not when he thought it would set off all of Harvey’s internal alarms.

Fortunately, it didn’t matter. The door creaked open on its own. Possibly from the force of Harvey’s fist, possibly from a passing breeze. The wood was so rotted, it was a feasible explanation.

The inside of the cabin was musty. Abandoned. Everything was falling apart, from the meager bed in the corner to the crumbling brick of a hearth in the center of the room. There was a desk underneath a broken window. It was there that Kaz beelined.

Underneath the shattered glass were papers. He thought he remembered something like this from last time... vaguely. A black charcoal pencil had scribbled on the sheets. Most of the designs were the abstract mess of a child, but one drawing stood out in particular.

“Hey, dude, look at this,” Kaz said, motioning for Harvey to look.

Two stick figures were holding hands. One of them was smaller, child-sized, with an arrow pointing towards it, labeling it ‘ME’. The other was taller, much larger, and swathed in a black dress with matching black hair. Or a hat? They stood on ground that looked bumpy - jagged teeth jutting up from the earth like...

Well, Kaz knew this well enough. Like gravestones.

Underneath the drawing was a rhyme, written out in the large, sloppy handwriting of a child.

SISTER MARY, QUITE CONTRARY HOW DOES YOUR GARDEN GROW? WITH THE WORMS, THE ROT, FORGET-ME-NOTS, NOW IT’S YOU WHO LIVES BELOW.

Silently, and with much reluctance, Harvey followed Kaz to the playground. It hadn’t been a long walk, though it would have been far more quicker had they just taken his car. He wasn’t going to push Kaz to do this his way - the boy seemed to have a plan of his own in action and Harvey was trying to be responsible by tagging along to make sure that he didn’t get himself in a worser shape than what he was already in. Maybe it was a bad idea to follow a concussed guy out to the Afterwood of all places, but better he go along than any of the other hooligans. So he thought. 

Kicking at the loose wood chips on the playground, he watched as the other “retraced his steps”, acting as a silent shadow hovering just a few feet away. He kind of hoped that the younger male would give up whatever silly plan they had. Technically he would be due at the station soon and the last thing Harvey wanted to do was be late and disappoint the Sheriff in any fashion. Then again, perhaps Kaz’s little adventure would give him better information to relay to Sheriff Matthews later on. 

He was eternally trapped in a moral dilemma, one that was halted when Kaz began to move forward. “Whoa, wait up,” he called out to the other, falling into step behind him. Eyes sweeping through the trees as they pushed through the thicket. There were no clear routes, no dirt roads winding and twisting towards any particular area. Where Uncle Monty’s cabin had been was secluded, naturally, but there were visible gravel roads to get you there. Harvey was getting the distinct impression that perhaps Kaz wasn’t entirely sure where he’d been going. Great, he thought, I’m going to end up dead and lost in the woods with Kazran Caldwell of all people. 

Not funny, Harv, a familiar voice whispered in the deepest reaches of his mind. He frowned involuntarily. 

Keeping a careful eye on their surroundings - partially to memorize any notable landmarks so he knew the clear way back but also to keep a look out for coyotes or any predators lurking in the shadows - Harvey trudged through the brush until Kaz came to a sudden stop. He’d almost bumped into the other boy but quickly side stepped away from him. The cabin that stood before him was not what he had expected. He was expecting something more like Uncle Monty’s getaway home - rustic and humble, but certainly newer and well kept. What stood before them was more like ruins sinking into the ground, slowly being reclaimed by the nature it had disrupted the decades ago it was likely built. 

In short, it was a dump. 

Whistling lowly, Harvey placed his hands on his hips as he began to circle the perimeter, staying a few feet away from Kaz as he tried to get a better look at the place. The wood of the structure was rotten and old, slowly being chipped at by mites. There was no way in hell anyone actually occupied this place. Not in this century anyway. At Kaz’s question, Harvey pursed his lips in thought. He shrugged. “Some kind of indication of human life,” he quipped in a sigh. Spying around the wooded area, his gaze narrowed as he tried to find something - anything - that could assist them. 

“Maybe something like… A mailbox? If someone uses this place regularly, or if there’s an address registered here, we have to find some kind of sign of it. Then we’d have just what we need to find ownership using public or county records…” He trailed off, taking a trepid step closer to the cabin. Hands on his thighs, he bent his spine and tried to spy about the area. There has to be something. Anything. 

The mailbox wasn’t easily spotted. It had been almost overtaken by the forest. Vines and branches snaked their way around the rusted tin, bursting through eroded holes and turning the manmade structure into a rusted fossil that belonged to the Afterwood now. Kaz approached it, hoping to find numbers along the side or a faded letter in its clutches, but everything was too mangled to make much out.

“Stupid fucking US post office piece of shit,” Kaz muttered, kicking the mailbox in frustration. He put his hands on his head, turning toward Harvey. “There’s nothing here, it’s all garbage. Do you think...”

He glanced at the cabin. The first time he’d been there, he had rushed in without a second thought. This time, it was like Jamie’s voice lingered in the back of his mind. Calling him reckless. If that was who Kaz was, Harvey was surely the opposite. He was the Sheriff’s lapdog. He was the pinnacle of by the book, right?

“Maybe there’s something inside,” he suggested, attempting to goad Harvey into going in so he could follow. If it was Harvey’s decision, then it was a well-thought-out one. At least that’s what Kaz’s concussed mind was telling him. “It’s not breaking and entering, right? The place probably doesn’t even have a lock.”

Bryce did have to give it to the guy, as obnoxious and weird as Kaz could seem, the boy did happen to have game. That was something Bryce could respect from one guy to another. Once the order was out, he didn’t bother asking before taking some fries and shoving them into his mouth. If they were going to have this conversation, they were going to have it on a not-empty stomach and fries would go a long way towards rectifying that. They settled into the spot that seemed to be the Murder Club’s regular place. It was interesting to know that no one ever said anything about them huddled back here, talking about who the fuck knew what. Surely they didn’t talk too loud about all the creepy crawlies that apparently existed in the world? Though, he supposed if they did, they would have all already been carted off to the mental ward.

His gaze fixed back on Kaz then as Bryce began to drink from his milkshake. It didn’t make much sense to beat around the bush and it wasn’t as if Bryce wanted to spend more time than necessary there with Kaz. He was an alright guy and all, Bryce supposed, but there were better things in his world to do than hang out with some baseball guy with a fucked up head.

“So, what do you mean? What did you lie about? Who did you lie to?”

No one really seemed to want to come out and just say the truth, something that was annoying Bryce to no end. And given what sort of things had been kept from him that had come out lately, he couldn’t say that he disapproved of one of the Murder Club members getting smacked with a bat. “Seemed pretty bad. What did you do that got you smacked the fuck out of like that?”

Kaz took a few generous sips of his milkshake before answering Bryce.

“No offense, bro,” he said, and he really meant it, “but if I didn’t answer the question for some two-bit demon, I’m not gonna answer it for you.” Telling Bryce that he’d had a hand in his best friend’s death was one thing. Telling Bryce of his complicated feelings for Johnnie Ward was altogether different. He owed him the former, but the latter was his own warped shit to deal with.

“It doesn’t affect you though, so don’t get your speedo in a twist,” he added. “It was just... if I had told the truth, it would’ve been in front of the rest of the Ghouls. I could tell they were listening even though everything was fuzzy. Like I was back in the sixth grade, zoning out in Math thinking about how huge Mrs. Danberry’s knockers are, and then all of a sudden she’s asking me what the square root of 49 is.” 

Her brow’s lifted when he mentioned the carbs. Because really, was he turning down her offer? She had never known a boy to turn down something she was handing out. But just like she originally suspected, he took the fries. Kaz was giving off major sad boy vibes which usually meant you were willing to eat just about anything, carbs be damned. “Yeah, no problem. Consider it my sorry. For the other night.” It’s not like she knew what the hell her truth was going to unleash, but clearly it was a lot of negative memories for Kaz. 

Snorting at his words, she grabbed one of the fries she had sent his way and popped it into her mouth. If he wanted to fight her on that, she’d just point out that she did use her money purchase them. Well, actually she had convinced some dopey senior to snag them for her, but he didn’t need to know that. “Sorry to be the one to break it to you babe, but it sounds like shit’s just getting started. Prom night didn’t feel like the end of anything.”

She paused chewing at his question, eyes flicking up from her food to catch his gaze. “Zero. I’m not really in a position to call you a liar. Obviously, I’m still confused about it all. But… I can tell you believe what you said.” She reached across the lunch table and softly took hold of his wrist, her thumb rubbing smoothly against the skin. “Maybe I’d have a better understanding of it all if you went over it again. Like, what went on with Tommy. Everything happened so fast on prom night I can’t really remember it all very well at this point.”

Well... that wasn’t what he had expected.

Out of everyone who’d been at the after party that night, Kaz figured Mariana would be the least likely to buy into everything he’d spilled. Muffy, of course. She was the same brand of weird as Jamie. Bryce had been searching for answers. Jasper spent his Summers hanging out with toddlers. But Mariana had standards. She was smart as a whip and, wow, her hands were smooth, weren’t they? 

Kaz was momentarily distracted as he looked down where she was touching him. It was soothing and innocent enough, but it sent heat through him regardless. The delicious aroma of fried food vanished as he was overwhelmed by the way her perfume smelled from his side of the table. 

“Uh... yeah, I mean... whatever you wanna know,” he told her, fully compelled to let her in on the entire truth. Knowing half-truths didn’t do anyone any good those days. They all deserved a chance to protect themselves. 

“He gave me a chance to run, when we were out in the woods,” Kaz told her. “Handed me a hunting knife like it was a game for him. He was really fast, like... way faster than a dude who usually splashes around in a pool has any right to be, you know? But I was still faster.” 

“Figured as much,” Harvey said when Kaz revealed his questions and this ‘field trip’ had to do with his missing brother. He didn’t push for much else because in all honesty he didn’t care, but he figured in a way that it was better that he was going with Kaz to wherever they were headed than say Ward or any of his lackeys. For one, he could get some insight into whatever that club was up to that they weren’t letting Harvey totally in on. But for another, this kid had suffered a concussion and it didn’t sit well with Harvey to let a concussed teen wander into the woods by himself. We don’t need to lose more people to the coyotes. Damn that small part of him that was still a good guy. 

“Only if you’re okay sitting at the station and doing your homework there in between my filing,” he said. He knew most of the young people in town didn’t have the same appreciation for the sheriff or law enforcement in general so he wasn’t going to push the idea of Kaz going there with him. He figured the second he brought up the sheriff’s department the other would go running anyway. 

At the mention of not needing roads, in what was a very cheap Christopher Lloyd impression mind you, Harvey frowned even deeper than he usually did. Where the hell are we going? In his experience, most of the cabins in the Afterwoods at least had rudimentary dirt roads they could drive on. “Um, okay,” he muttered, pocketing his keys. “Lead the way then, I guess,” he finally said, motioning towards the exit of the library. 

There was a snowball’s chance in Hell of Kaz sitting quietly in the police station doing his homework, but he’d tell Harvey anything to get him out to the woods. When it came time to fulfill his end of the bargain, he doubted the Sheriff would allow him to hang out anyway. Not after the last time he’d been there under the ruse of a Valentine’s serenade with Edwina by his side. Sheriff Matthews hadn’t lived down that humiliation quite yet.

Luckily for the two amateur sleuths, the playground wasn’t far from the high school. It took them longer than Harvey’s car would have, but it was barely 4:30 by the time they reached the jungle gym where Kaz and Jamie had been sitting the day they saw the boy. Now that it was May and the sun didn’t go down until around 8pm, they had plenty of sunlight as they found their way into the forest.

“I gotta kinda... retrace my steps a little...” Kaz told Harvey, eyes wide as his gaze flickered around, attempting to find something familiar. None of it was striking a chord. Then again, he hadn’t been paying attention at the time, had he? He’d been following his gut. 

He paused, closing his eyes. He couldn’t get them turned around. This was too important, and losing Harvey in the woods was the last thing either of them needed on their plates. When he opened them again, he started trudging forward with a renewed vigor. Walking on instinct.

Strange, elongated shadows beckoned Kaz forth like the gesturing hands of the Afterwood. Fluttering birds overhead sounded more like whispers the deeper in they got. The canopy grew thicker, the sky darker. Kaz didn’t stop walking. 

Until they found it. He had the audacity to look shocked, like he hadn’t actually known if they were headed the correct way that entire time despite the confidence he’d shown.

Vi really wished that she was surprised to hear that Kaz had had worse weekends, but considering how he had a missing brother and he’d been heavily involved with the Tommy thing, a party-gone-wrong with creepy consequences was probably not as comparable. Come to think of it, most of them had probably had worse weekends.

That didn’t make the night of prom any less worse, though.

Acknowledging his words with a head nod that conveyed ‘fair enough’ without her even having to say anything, Vi followed the male to his locker, figuring that if he was leading her away from the general public he likely had something to say. It wasn’t until she was leaning against the locker next to him that she really knew where the conversation was going, and her filter was not 100% prepared for the sudden diversion.

“No offense, but you didn’t even need a meeting to decide to do that to us at that party,” she pointed out, matter-of-factly. His face may have been smiling but his words told a different story, so it seemed like treading lightly was the best option. “Sorry. I just-Do you really think we’d do that? That every single member of our weird little band of misfits would decide to do something that would actively hurt you? Edwina? Holly?”

Yes, they had absolutely been keeping stuff from him, but it wasn’t out of malice. It was out of protection. Maybe it was time to offer him an olive branch. So he knew that there was still some level of trust to be had there.

“You’re mad. I get it. But the mysteries in this town continue and I’d like your opinion on one if you have a sec. Only me and Holly know about it.”

“No, I didn’t think you’d do that. But you did, didn’t you?”

Thus was the problem. Kaz didn’t actually have anything in his locker, but he puttered around in it like he did. Partially to distract himself from his constantly simmering frustrations, so as not to take them out on Violet. Partially for the sake of anyone walking by, like somehow the mere fact of these two interacting was cause for suspicion. Everyone knew they were in Newspaper Club together, but Kaz hedged his bets on the side of paranoia those days.

He glanced at the blonde when she admitted understanding that he was mad. He figured she was of the same opinion as Holly and Edwina. And Jamie... apparently. That everything was to ‘protect’ him. Being coddled didn’t make him feel good or appreciated, but he didn’t know how to explain that to her, so he focused on what she followed it up with.

“What is it?” he asked, his expression slowly morphing from indignation to concern.