"So what exactly is your plan?" I asked Everett as we wandered aimlessly down the empty street. Something about it felt alien, even though it was the same as always, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end every time the wind rustled the tree leaves or a loose pebble clacked underfoot.

"Plan..." He drew the word out and then trailed off into silence.

"I'm guessing that means there is no plan."

"I haven't exactly had time to come up with one."

"Based on what I've seen since I met you time is nonexistent and irrelevant."

"Why don't you come up with something? You're the one that made all this happen."

"I didn't do anything."

"You did something. That...thing followed you."

"I don't even know what it was. And in case you weren't paying attention you left your family there with it." He hadn't seemed to even bat an eye at leaving them. Even if they were stuck in some trance, it seemed cold.

He shrugged, but it was forced. "If anything happens to them they'll be fine tomorrow. Or, today again."

I glanced up to the stars overhead, the unsettling night. "Are you sure there'll be another today?"

"There's always another today."

I couldn't say I was sure there would be this time, but who was I to know what was going to happen? Any logical rules of the world had been thrown out the window. And not too long ago; I was impressed with myself for not breaking down yet.

But at that thought those glowing eyes swam into my head again and I shook them away. "What do we do about the thing?" I asked, as if Everett would have any answer.

He hesitated. "Hope it doesn't show back up?"

"I think that's too much to hope."

"Probably." He sighed and looked around. "I say we start by figuring out where we even are."

"We're—" But when I looked around as well I found that we weren't walking past quaint little houses anymore. We were surrounded by big, boxy buildings with blank fronts and dark windows like eyes. I shivered. "You got us lost?"

"I was following you!"

"I was following you! You're the one who wanted my help."

"Well we're lost now. I don't think I've ever seen these buildings, have you?" I shook my head. "We haven't even made any turns that would get us lost. You know, I haven't gotten lost since I was a kid. My brother and I got lost trying to get back from this fort we made, scared our parents to death, like twenty people came looking for us after dark with flashlights. We thought we were in so much trouble."

"You ramble when you're nervous," I commented.

Even in the dark I could see his cheeks flush. "No, I don't. And I'm not nervous."

"I think anybody would be nervous right about now." I certainly was. I had no idea where we were or where we were going or what to do about it, but I took a breath and stopped walking to think. "We haven't made any turns so let's just walk back. We'll at least be somewhere we can recognize."

"Fair enough." We both turned only to stop dead again. My heart dropped.

We were standing at the edge of a forest. Not a city street. The buildings we had walked past minutes ago were gone. There were just endless trees ahead of us, their shadows pooling together until the grass looked black. The moonlight only stretched so far; where we stood was lit up silver, but not far ahead the light faded into nothing, leaving an ominous path waiting for us.

"What the hell?" escaped me, my voice hushed.

Everett stared with wide eyes. "That's a new one. I thought I couldn't be surprised anymore. Everything was already too weird. We did not walk through a forest, unless I really am crazy—"

"Rambling again, Everett." He shut up, but I found nothing to say to fill the silence. This situation was getting more impossible by the minute and I wanted to just sit down and pretend it wasn't happening. But that wasn't going to work, so I looked between the forest and the buildings behind us, down to the path, where grass overtook concrete just in front of our feet.

Which way? I got a nasty, gut-wrenching feeling from both. "Both are creepy as hell. What do you think?" I asked.

Before Everett could answer the slow, steady thud of footsteps sounded behind us. Chills snaked up my spine. For a moment I stared straight ahead into the trees, frozen in place. The cold creeped through me again, wrapping around my lungs just like it had in the house.

The footsteps continued, closer. Closer. Everything about them was intentional, slower than they needed to be on this empty street, like the person was toying with us.

I forced myself to look over my shoulder and watch the shadowy figure as it strolled down the street towards us. So casually, but something about the set of its shoulders, the way its burning eyes looked back at me, was a pure threat. "Woods," I hissed out, shoving at Everett's shoulder. No more decisions to make; I wasn't getting any closer to that thing.

We both shot forward and I paid only just enough attention not to lose sight of Everett. I didn't care which way we went, but I didn't want to be stuck alone if it caught up. Branches scratched across my face and hands as I shoved them away, roots and undergrowth pulled at my ankles, but I kept going. My pulse pushed me forward another step, and another, even when the silvery light faded into the distance and Everett became nothing more than another shadow beside me, distinguishable by little more than his labored breathing. But at least he was still there.

When I dared to glance back there was no sign of the city street, or glowing eyes following us. Just the dark, so deep and looming we were sure to get lost in it. I snatched Everett's wrist and hauled him to the side with me.

"What—"

"Shh." When we'd gone deep enough I was sure it had no way of knowing which way to find us, I slowed to a stop and leaned back against a tree to catch my breath. Every inch of me burned, legs trembling, but I gripped the bark to keep myself steady. "I don't know where it is but I don't think it kept up," I whispered.

Everett was a dark outline against the lighter shadows of the woods, but I could tell he nodded faintly. "I don't know what that thing is, and I know it hasn't actually done anything, but..."

I swallowed hard. "It feels like it's going to." I couldn't explain it beyond instinct, but somewhere deep in me I knew it didn't mean well. It radiated a malice that still lingered around the back of my throat.

Everett shifted closer, close enough I could just make out his frightened look as he watched the trees around us. "Does all of this feel familiar to you?"

My throat was tight but I managed to get out, "Yeah, kind of. Like déjà vu." The creepiest case of déjà vu in history.

The undergrowth rustled in the distance and I clamped my mouth shut, trying to silence even my breathing. Everett stiffened but said nothing. I couldn't tell what direction it was in or if it was getting closer, but I didn't dare move. All I heard was my pulse thundering.

And then: "Everett."

It was a slow, haunting call, the same silky and chilling voice from the house. I realized I'd squeezed my eyes shut and now they popped open as I turned to Everett. What I could see of his face was ashen.

"And Iris, don't think I forgot you," the thing continued. Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes and I pressed back against the tree like it would shield me. The bark dug into my skin, a comforting kind of pain. "Let's not play this game. Come out and talk."

Neither of us dared move. Footsteps brushed over the grass. A twig snapped close enough to make me jump.

It was going to kill us. I didn't know what it was—a ghost, a demon, some other monster thirsty for blood?—but it was going to kill us. I knew that as simply and easily as I knew my own name. A sob welled up in my throat but I swallowed it.

"I hate games. This will be easier on all of us if we don't draw it out."

The voice was getting closer; we were going to be caught. If we ran it would follow us. We were sitting ducks here, waiting to be snatched up, and if I was going to die I didn't want to do it in hiding. I gave Everett another look and he must have read my intentions on my face. He shook his head, but I ignored it and stepped around the tree, braced for what, I didn't know.

The figure was waiting, eyes mingling with the scant light and casting a strange pale glow against the trees and tangled undergrowth. I blinked to let my eyes adjust to it and found myself, now closer, staring at not some faceless shadow but a man.

Young, I thought, though it was hard to tell for sure. Dark hair fell to his shoulders and mingled with his dark coat. When he shifted I caught sight of a key hung around his neck, and I stared at it for a beat before dragging my attention to his face. His features were vague in the dim light but he smiled as I stopped in front of him. "Finally."

I really hoped I was imaging the tremor in my hands, or that he wouldn't be able to see it. "Who are you?" I asked.

Something flickered in his expression and he held out a hand. "Draven." I didn't shake it. We stood there until he breathed a note of laughter and dropped it. "Fine. I wasn't expecting this to be a particularly polite conversation anyway."

At least he hadn't attacked me yet. "What do you want?"

He cocked his head. I couldn't keep from meeting his horrible eyes; they pulled all attention to them, hypnotic. "To chat. You're braver than I expected, walking out here. Your friend wouldn't have in a million years."

"And?"

"And I'm impressed."

My skin prickled all over being so close to him, but I held my ground. For all I knew he was harmless, if a little unsettling. Of course my adrenaline would be through the roof, in an unfamiliar place with unfamiliar people, but it didn't make my fears real. I had no actual proof I needed to be worried, and until I did I wouldn't let myself be.

"No offense, Draven, but I really don't care about impressing you."

"You should."

"Why is that?"

"You're brave, but easily distracted."

"Iri—" Everett didn't even finish my name before being cut off with a guttural choking sound. I whipped around and a hundred curses rushed to my lips but none made it out, my voice gone. I darted for him but all I could make out was him backed against a tree, eyes bulging and focused on something out in the dark.

I grabbed his arm but he still just stared in horror. He was shaking against me, gasping for breath, and before I could think of what else to do his whole body crumpled. I dropped to my knees, panic seizing me. "Everett? What is going on?"

In answer another pair of glowing orange eyes shifted from the dark. My attention spun back to Draven, still waiting behind me, and then to the new figure. It stayed firmly in the shadows but inclined its head to us, like a polite farewell, and vanished. There and then not. Like it never had been there at all.

I realized my fingers were digging like claws into Everett's arm, my breath coming as hard and fast as my heartbeat. Warmth met my back along with the brush of Draven's breath against my ear.

"You should care because I'm in charge here," he whispered. And then he was gone too.