Lucy Cogent turned off the engine and listened as it died down. She knew that another turn of the keys would resurrect it. The rusty subcompact her dad had left her still had some life in it. But it always seemed like every time she turned it off, it would be the last.

Lucy opened the car door and stepped out. She wore a tweed winter coat with oversized buttons on the front, jeans, and a pair of red sneakers. Her hair was pinned to one side with a blue clip. As she shut the door, she looked up. A light shone through the curtains of the living room window. The only other illumination came from the streetlamps.

She climbed creaking stairs towards the front door of the townhouse and knocked.

She waited, watching her breath frosting in the lamplight. She thought about the house. The years she’d spent living within it. Too many memories for one thing to hold.

After two or three breaths, a brown haired boy opened the door.

He was about two years younger than Lucy Cogent, and still a High School student. He wore a leather jacket with a pair of red and white stripes on the shoulders that ran down to the cuffs. He had hazel eyes and a serene expression. A curved scar ran across his left cheek. “Hey Lucy,” he said, “I had to pick the downstairs lock to get in here. So our illegal count is up to two now. Also how is college? Judging from your new pair of glasses, you’ve already turned into a hipster.”

        “Hey Mark. That’s cool, college’s alright, and thanks,” Lucy said, “Can I come in? It’s cold outside.”

        “Yeah, I mean it's your house...” He paused. “Oh, you just wanted me to step aside, didn’t you..."

"Yuuup," Lucy said. She stepped in, letting the door shut. “It’s not much warmer inside though. I guess they don’t heat uninhabited houses.”

Mark nodded.

        “Lovely,” Lucy said. “But thanks, Lantis. For showing up.”

        “You could have been less suspicious. Someone could see your car,” Mark said.

        Lucy shrugged. “If everything goes right, we’ll--”

        “Unlikely.”

        “...we’ll be free of any violations of legal statutes.” She looked past him into the living room. The light illuminating the curtains came from a table lamp on the floor, tilted so that the cone of the lamp was directed towards the ceiling. There were fold up chairs. There wasn’t a light on in the kitchen. “Feels weird to be back here.”

        “You get homesick on us already?”

        “Clinton is a boring town, Mark,” Lucy said. “It doesn’t hold a bloodstained candle to the kinds of things we used to do around here. I mean, if towns were capable of holding candles.”

        “We never ran into any candle wielding towns,” Mark said, in so flat a tone that Lucy almost couldn’t tell if he was trying to make a joke, or stating the obvious.

        “I guess Will hasn’t turned up yet?” Lucy asked.

        “He had a thing,” Mark said, “that he said he had to do.”

        Lucy looked over at the lamp. “Did you bring that?”

        Mark shook his head. “I didn’t bring the foldout table in the kitchen either.” He walked over to the wall next to the kitchen and threw the light switch. Cool blue fluorescent lights illuminated a kitchen with off white walls and a tan and grey tiled linoleum floor. On the table that Mark had mentioned was a piece of paper with messy handwriting upon it.

        “Did you read that?”

        “I only read the first part,” Mark said. “Just until I realized it was meant for you.”

        “Thanks for holding back.”

        “Yeah,” Mark said.

        Lucy walked next to the table and grabbed the note.

we’ve never had time for formalities. thus; this isn’t preceded by “dear lucy” or any of that nonsense. right now, what you’ve got to realize, is that you’re in graver danger now than you were before.

just by stepping foot in your old home, you’re putting yourself at risk of what happened to the rest of your family.

but if you wish to save yourself, there is a box in the cabinet. you can take the pills. you can save yourself, and your friends.

--C.A.

        “Well at least he wasn’t too cryptic this time,” Lucy said. “Usually he writes all pompous... like he’s some sort of biblical prophet.”

        “What did he say?” Mark asked.

        “He said we have to take pills, that he left in this house, if we’re going to be saved from what happened to my family,” Lucy said. “I’m not too big a fan of that idea.”

        “Me. Neither.” Mark said. “He might be trying to kill you.”

        “He said we need to take pills, so he might be trying to kill you too,” Lucy said. “He’s aware of you. He might even know about Will.”

        “Oh... no,” Mark said. “Do you think he knows about Vals?”

        “I don’t even know about her,” Lucy said. “But really, maybe it isn’t a bad thing? Cee Eh has never done anything particularly vicious against me, has he?”

        “No,” Mark said. “But that doesn’t mean we should trust him to take some drugs that... we don’t even know what they do. He didn’t happen to mention what they do, did he?”

        “Well, I would assume they have something to do with saving myself, and my friends,” Lucy said. “That was roughly his wording. But really. Is he anything near as bad as we’ve treated him. I mean, Cee Eh has been cryptic and unhelpful, but he’s never put me in danger. He’s mostly just offered ways for me to get out of all of this.”

        “Why haven’t you?” Mark asked.

        “You already know,” Lucy said, huffily. “I don’t see the point of repeating it. Once Will gets here, we’ll have a discussion. And figure out when we take the pills.”

        “Figure out if we take the pills, you mean.”

        “Sure,” Lucy said. “That’s a way of looking at it. Although do you really think I’ve come this far, done everything I’ve done, to be afraid of taking some pills? I mean, it would almost be a kind of sweet release.”

        “Woah. Don’t talk like that.”

        “I won’t,” Lucy said, smiling sweetly to disarm him. “Come on, let’s sit down and chat until Will gets here.” She walked back to the living room and sat down cross legged on the floor, putting her back against the wall.

        Mark sat down across from her, one leg bent and the other stretched out towards her. “Chat about what though?”

        “What about you and Vals?” Lucy asked. “When I said I didn’t even know about her, I wasn’t being completely insincere.”

        “Oh,” Mark said. “We’re still just friends.”

        “And are you alright with that?” Lucy asked.

        “Yeah,” Mark said. “Why don’t we talk about something else?”

        “So you aren’t alright with that,” Lucy said.

        “How about that person you saw two nights ago,” Mark said. “With the fairy wings.”

        “Not fairy wings,” Lucy said. “Two black bat wings.”

        “Oh, so you weren’t kidding?” Mark asked.

        “No,” Lucy said. “I wasn’t. As far as I can tell, we can add gargoyles onto our, no longer empty, list of suddenly non-fictional races of near-humans.” She sighed. “Or maybe it was just a dude in a costume.”

        “And where did you see him again?”

        “On the corner where that old guy used to play trumpet all the time,” Lucy said. “At night, too, like you said. I couldn’t see him well. The lamp was out and I only caught him for a few seconds in my headlights. But he was definitely there. He had on a dark green jacket with a black t-shirt on underneath which I can only assume would have a symbol on it.”

        “It was a cosplayer,” Mark said. “Case closed.” He made an eugh face. “Probably someone mourning Anthony Holloway, in their own weird way.”

        “Ok, even if he was a cosplayer, you have to admit that’s pretty weird, right?”

        “Not as weird as the stark that keep turning up,” Mark said. “Hey, can we talk about that? I saw another one when I was walking over here. Just down my street, following me. I thought if I would look at it and wave, it might go away, but the fucking thing just stared at me!”

        “Keep your voice down,” Lucy said playfully. “The neighbors might hear you raving from inside this supposedly empty house and call for ghost hunters.”

        “Those things... the stark... freak me out, alright?” He said. “The more I see them, the more I’m convinced they’ve been following me my whole life. In the corner of my bedroom or the backseats of a schoolbus. Just... watching. Maybe even waiting.”

        “Sorry,” Lucy said. “That has to be awful. I’ve been spared the worst of them. Just remember that we haven’t actually seen any of them do anything. Just like Cee Eh. They’re just watching, it seems.”

        “Watching me sleep,” Mark said, shivering. “I think that’s why I keep my knifes around me all the time.”

        “Knives,” Lucy said.

        “Whatever. I think the knife thing is subconscious. Some part of me just said, protect yourself, and so I did.”

        “I don’t know if knives are the kind of thing that’ll kill a stark.” Lucy said. “Do stark even die?”

        “I don’t want to have to ask that question,” Mark said.

There was a knock at the door. It went like this; knockknockknockknock. Knock. Knock-knock. Lucy jumped a little.

        “Oh,” Mark said. “It’s Will. I didn’t expect him to turn up so soon.”

        “Me neither,” Lucy said. She stood up and walked over to the door. She turned the handle and opened it, for half a second expecting someone else to be there. “Lucy!” Will shouted. He was wearing a winter parka and a pair of tight jeans and snow boots. “It’s been like, forever!” He walked up to her and gave her a quick hug, before turning to Mark. “Mark!”

        “Will!” Mark shouted back. “No touchy!”

        “Oh... kay,” Will said, his smile vanishing. “Did you guys get my text messages?”

        “Yeah,” Lucy said, “One or two.”

        “I got like thirty,” Mark said. “Why couldn’t you just tell us what it was over the phone?”

        “Because,” Will said, “I wasn’t sure if anyone would be... listening.”

        “Oh,” Lucy said. “Speaking of that, I got another note from Cee Eh today. This one is telling us to take some pills he gave us.”

        “Sounds legit,” Will said. “Also that was a joke, please don’t take that seriously.”

        “Yeah,” Lucy said. “But in this note, he wasn’t warning us away from going forward with the quest. So I guess he’s actively trying to help us now?”

        “Yeah,” Will said. “Right, whatever. What I have is way more important.” He reached into his parka pocket. “I hope you’re both ready for this because it is a pretty big deal.” Slowly, maybe even theatrically, he drew out a black iron key from his pocket. The ring on the end was in the shape of a heart, and the key had two wavy prongs on the end.

        Lucy stared at it. “So...? What is it?”

        “It’s the key,” Will said. “To the door in the tunnel. Remember? Last summer?”

        “Oh,” Lucy said. “Uh. That’s kind of frightening. How do you know it’s the one?”

        “Well, I found it in my mailbox with a note attached to it, saying that it went to the door in the tunnel. And I tried it just now. It works. I shut the door and locked it after I tried, but yeah. It should be working just fine now.” He rocked back and forth on his feet. “So, you wanna go?”

        “It’s like, the dead of night,” Lucy said.

        “I brought two flashlights,” Will said.

        “What about me?” Mark asked. “Nah I’m kidding. I have three on me right now. I didn’t think either of you would be prepared. For any potential darkness.”

        Will and Mark looked at Lucy. “I didn’t bring any,” she said, shrugging, “I mean, I still have that one that Mark left in my glovebox, but if I move it from there, I’m never going to be able to find it again. So I’ll just take one of yours.”

        Mark handed one over.

        “Cool,” Lucy said. “So let’s go ahead, and--”

        Mark’s phone started playing a piano riff that he’d doubtlessly recorded and then used as his ringtone. He pulled his phone out from his pant’s pocket and looked down at the caller ID. “Oh,” he said. “It’s Valdis?”

        “Answer it dude!” Will said, with more enthusiasm than Lucy felt was really necessary.

        Mark unfolded his phone and put it up to his ear. “Hello?” A pause. “Yeah, Lucy, Will, and I were about to...” He looked over at Will. “Well I don’t know. How did you know? Did Will tell you? No?”

        “Does she know about the tunnel?” Lucy asked.

        Mark nodded. “Look, Vals, I don’t think you should... because it could be dangerous. Oh come on... Yeah there’s a reason we haven’t been telling you about this...”

        “She can come,” Lucy said, trying to not sound resigned. “We’ve got more than enough flashlights, and it could be we’ll need a fourth set of eyes down there. To scare away verruckt vagrants.”

        “Yeah but,” Mark said, still into the phone, “Ok, Vals, Lucy said you can come.” He paused, the slightest smile playing on his lips. “Yeah, we’ll pick you up from your house when we can. Alright. Bye.”

        “Alright,” Lucy said, “So we have to go get Valdis now. Who wants to drive?”

        “I’m parked behind you,” Will said. “I’ll take driving duties.”

        “Aye aye,” Lucy said, “Captain Dikens.”

        “Are you making fun of my last name?” Will asked.

        “Yes,” Lucy said, walking towards the door, “But no.”

        Will Dikens followed. “I can never tell with you sometimes. You have to work on your sarcasm, lady.” Lucy opened the door and Will walked out past her.

        “Thanks for letting Vals come along,” Mark said to Lucy. “I mean, I didn’t want her to come. But...”

        “She was bound to get wrapped up in all of this eventually.”

        “It’s nice having your okay though,” he said. “I genuinely mean that. Like, totally.”

        “Well... thank you for saying so,” Lucy said, “Come on. Let’s go get Valdis, and then head to the creepy tunnel in the woods. I’m sure there won’t be any consequences for any of the decisions we’re making tonight.” She held the door open. “Come on. I’m going to lock up and leave through the back door.”

        “Alright,” Mark said. “But don’t take too long.” He walked out and Lucy shut and locked the door. She walked back into the kitchen and went to the microwave. She opened the cabinet door to the right of it and reached inside. She found a pharmacy-orange pill bottle without a label, and four blue pills inside. She slipped the bottle into her jacket and turned off the kitchen light.

        She turned on her flashlight. She was caught by how strange the dark seemed, and how used to it she should have been, having lived there. When she shined her flashlight briefly over the window, she spooked herself when she saw her reflection. She quickly ran down the stairs towards the basement and then left through the back door, where her room used to be. She saw the cardbox that was located where her computer desk used to be, and then she left, leaving the back door unlocked.

She walked around the row of townhouses back to the driveway, where she found Will’s idling minivan, melting snow on its engine hood. She saw that Mark had seated himself the seat directly behind Will’s. Lucy opened the door, hopping into shotgun.

“You ready?” Will asked.

“I don’t know,” Lucy said. “Honestly, I feel like I should have a gun. Do either of you have a weapon?”

“I don’t,” Will said.

“I do,” Mark said. “Two knives, actually.”

“That’s doubly reassuring,” Lucy said, to no laughter. “If one of us needs a knife, would you mind parting with one?”

“Absolutely,” Mark said.

“Alright,” Lucy said. “Wow. Maybe Valdis will have something too. A baseball bat or something.”

Mark and Will snickered.

“What?” Lucy asked.

“Valdis has a sword,” Mark said.

“Oh,” Lucy said. “That’s cool. I forgot.”

“You don’t understand,” Mark said. “Her grandfather has been training her in swordfighting for years. She goes to fencing tournaments too. And she tells me that there are like... fight clubs, except with dulled blades, that she sometimes goes to.”

“Lucy, you remember that one time that Valdis had that broken hand?” Will asked. “And how she told everyone that she fell on it funny?”

“Yeah? Was it a swordfighting thing?”

“Yup,” Mark said.

A sword’s not going to do much against a crazy hobo with a gun, though.