"What does it all mean?" I ask in attempt to steer things away from the subject. "In the grand scheme of things. I mean, what do we do now?"

Kato sighs. "We... We don't know. I'll try and figure it out--look into the literature to discover any clues in history, trace any spirits who may be able to help. In the meantime, all of you need to keep moving. Don't stay in one place too long. Those evil spirits are sensitive to your energies now, and the longer you stay in one place, the more concentrated your energies become."

"Aren't the others safe?" I question. "Someone clearly wants my neck in a noose, sure, but they've got no reason to go after the others."

Kato shakes her head. "They're not safe. Whatever it is that's after you will use the others to locate you, and if you're not there when they track them... Well, dark spirits aren't particularly known for their patience and understanding."

To cut away all the frills, I've basically screwed everyone over, and they could quite literally all die because of me. Isn't that just the best thing ever? Everyone should be my mate. If I wasn't in a public space with the spirit talking parents of my flatmate, I'd probably be hitting something by now. What do these things even want from me? What would they gain from murdering me? What did they gain from killing an entire bloodline?

"I'm gonna guess going back to uni is out of the question, right?" I ask, refusing to dwell on questions that can't be answered.

Kato responds with a soft smile and a shake of her head, and finally, Mosi speaks. "We've brought the jeep with all your stuff," he explains. "Ava's insured to drive it as of today, and you should be able to get any assignments done on the road. It's not ideal, but there's not much else you can do."

I nod. Annabel, who's been sitting quietly this whole time, looks like she's about to speak but I cut her off before she can. She probably has a million and one questions, all of which I'm not in the mood to address right now. I need a break from all this crap.

"I better go get my stuff together," I say, standing up from the table.

"Do you not have any more questions?" Kato asks, forcing me to stay put.

"Ask her why I couldn't speak to Ava when I tried," Annabel butts in, finally getting her say.

"Not really, I guess it's just a lot to take in," I half lie. I probably will think of a million things later, but I need a break from all this for five minutes.

"Felix!" Annabel snaps at me from my side. "Ask!"

"Of course, yes," Kato says softly. "When you do think of any, Ava will be able to answer most, and we can answer those she can't. Don't hesitate to ask, dear."

I respond to Kato with a thumbs up, which naturally makes me look like an imbecile. I've just been told I'm the sole remaining member of my family after the rest were brutally murdered, and whatever did that has now made it its mission to slaughter me and all my friends, and the way I choose to end that conversation is with a thumbs up. If that doesn't symbolise how screwed we are, I don't know what does.

Annabel yells at me to ask her question again. Before I'm able to scurry away in a flurry of awkwardness and sheer embarrassment, Kato stops me.

"You need to remember," she says, her voice quiet. "I realise it's not quite that simple, but it's just that--Well, you see--"

"To put it bluntly," Mosi interrupts, "we can't help you. Not enough. The only people who can really know what these spirits want, why they did what they did, why they're doing what they're doing now, are the ones who experienced what started all of this, and you're the only one left who did." He lifts his eyes slightly, and locks them into mine. "And you're running out of time."

#

Annabel starts whining at me the second I'm back inside the B&B. I was right; she does have too many questions to count, and I assure her they'll be answered, but that doesn't satisfy her. While everyone loads their stuff into Mosi's jeep, I take the opportunity for five minutes alone in my hotel room. I collapse onto the bed, the mattress' springs digging into my back, and stare at the white ceiling.

"Shit," I say at nothing. "Shit. Shit. Shit."

"Just ask them one before they leave, please!" Annabel.

I sigh, then shut my eyes. My head feels like it's spinning, and it could be as a result of anything ranging from the punch in the face Tom gave me, to the news of my entire family being dead and buried. No wonder the authorities couldn't track them after the accident. I open my eyes, then sit up on the bed to see Annabel's glare digging into me from the other end. Her arms are crossed, her lips pursed, and her eyebrows narrowed. Then it hits me.

"You can remember," I mutter.

"Huh?" she questions, her face softening.

"I'm not the only one left, I mean, not technically. You can remember too." I straighten up, and begin to speak more quickly. "My memory loss was from a physical injury, and I might never get it back, but yours wasn't. Yours is like the memory loss of any spirit; it'll come back if you try hard enough."

Annabel shakes her head. "I'm slow though, Felix. I can still barely even remember fragments of when I was alive, and it's already been eleven years. We don't have another eleven to fix this."

I shake my head. There must be a way to speed up the process. The memories are there, she just needs to unclog them. We can ask Kato. She'll know if there's a way. This is it, this is the answer. It has to be. Annabel can remember. She has to.

As I hurry out of my room and jog down to the small hotel lobby, I scout out Tom, who's trying to carry way more bags than physically possible. I hurry over to him, and grab two from over his shoulder.

"Hey, have Kato and Mosi left yet?"

"Don't think so," he replies slowly.

As we walk outside to the car park, he scans my face in a way that suggests I'm about to summon Satan himself. I hope this walking on eggshells thing doesn't last too long. It's a pain in the arse. Mosi's jeep is about the size of a house, so it's hardly difficult to spot among the modest cars dotted around the cobbled car park.

As I notice Kato helping Ava with a bag, I go to call after her, but find the words stuck in my throat when I realise that standing among the frail trees that line the car park, barely visible among the straggly branches, is a Tracker.

"We need to leave," I say blankly as I throw the bags I'm carrying into the jeep's boot.

"What?" It's Carmen who asks. She's sitting in one of the backseats, and turns around to look at me.

"We need to leave," I repeat. "Just trust me."

"Whoa, no!" Ava snaps, suddenly appearing beside me. "No more of this ambiguity. What is it?"

By this point, Mosi has joined his daughter, and is looking at me inquisitively. Kato seems distracted with Tom and his hundred bags, but Jamie has picked up on what's going on from the vehicle's passenger seat. I can feel his bug eyes on me.

"Tracker," I mutter.

"Everyone in!" Mosi yells before I've even finished saying the word.

Without question, everyone does as they're told, other than Tom, who unsurprisingly has no idea what's going. I keep my eyes on the Tracker as I sit beside Carmen in the jeep, and I'm unsure of whether to be pleased or unnerved at the fact that I'm in next to no physical pain. A visit from one of these clowns usually gives me a splitting headache, but I just feel a tad bit numb at most.

Mosi is shouting orders at us, and everyone is in a mad fluster, but I just close my eyes. I keep the image of the Tracker in my head, its gangly limbs dangling like the branches of the trees it's hidden in, and the frown on its face as big as ever. There's still a ruckus going on in the jeep. I'm not sure if I'm imagining it, but there's a force pushing against me. I push back. Slowly, I open my eyes. It's still there. I keep pushing, and then within a few seconds, it's gone, and I'm left feeling dazed. Kind of dizzy. Huh. I think that worked.

Suddenly, something nudges me hard in my side, and I whip my head around to see Carmen's light eyes. Tom, who's sat on her other side, is peeking round her to stare at me in a slightly less subtle way.

"Sorry, what is it?" I question.

"For the love of--" Jamie groans from the passenger seat. "We're all going to be dead within a day relying on this idiot. It was nice knowing you people."

"Has anything else appeared?" Kato asks me, ignoring Jamie's comment. "We can't sense anything, but want to be sure."

The jeep's windows are rolled down, and Mosi is leaning in on Ava's side while Kato stands beside him outside. Per usual, all eyes are on me.

"Oh, nah," I reply. "I got rid of it."

Kato raises her eyebrows in what I can only guess is surprise, but seems content with the answer. I'm ninety percent sure Ava's parents think I'm useless, and am probably about to lead their daughter to her death, not that I can blame them. The banishing of a Tracker is probably a much needed boost to my reputability.

Once Kato and Mosi have said their goodbyes, adorning Ava with too many kisses to count in the process, we head out of the car park and onto the road. We don't have much of a plan of where we're going, just that it needs to be far away.