As the sun slowly makes its way down, we travel further up the river. As we near the lake, the water rises higher and higher. While it only was just above my knees, the water for Mallory had reached her butt.

Once we hit the area where the river and lake became one, she starts heading for the shore—hugging the banks in a way she thinks looks natural.

Mallory suddenly sighs, scanning the horizon for the lost kid, “You think we should just put a fence up?”

“Do you know how expensive fences are?”

“It could be worth it in the long run!” She trails off, maintaining a steady pace.

“See any other Half-Spirits we can—”

“You’re right, this isn’t fair.”

“Uh?”

Mallory suddenly stops and turns around, “Would it be wrong if we stopped accepting gigs like this? I mean, we almost never bring back anyone alive.”

“We still have to try. For all the times we do succeed in bringing back a living body.”

She nods her head in thought and turns back around, picking up her pace. “Yeah, that makes sense. I’ve decided you’re wrong.”

“Me?”

“No, not you.”

I guess the water is aggravating her much more than she’d like the admit. I look out into the water myself, and notice a figure coming towards us, their hands waving in the air wildly.

“Huh… I think that’s the kid? At least, it’s a kid.” I point out.

“That’s great! You should help them to shore. I’m just gonna… catch my breath real quick.” Mallory continues onto the shore, and a little further up.

She roughly flops onto her side, then rolls onto her back and stares at the sky. The skin on her legs had broken out horribly, irritated into a bright red. The skin I could see on her arms seemed to be squirming, as if something was under it.

I turn my attention away from her to go retrieve the kid. It doesn’t take long to retrieve him, though he isn’t in great condition. If I were to guess by how pruned he was, he’s just been standing in the lake this whole time.

Smart kid.

“Congrats kid, you’re still alive.” I smile. “The name’s J.L. You’re Pauley, right?”

“N…No? My name’s Hunter.” He looks at me nervously.

“Oh, uh… Well, that works too… What’re you doing out here, Hunter?” I lead the way back to the shore.

“You… You wouldn’t believe me.”

“Trust me, I’ve seen some pretty unbelievable things.”

“Well… I was playing with this other boy, and he said we should play hide and seek. I was it, so I counted to 20, and when I opened my eyes, I thought I saw him go into the forest…” He explains. “But, when I went into the forest, it was soooo dark. I could barely see. I tried to go back the way I went, but when I did there was just more woods!”

“Ah… was the boy you were playing with wearing overalls?”

“Yeah? Do you know him?”

“Yeah, that’s Andy. He’s some asshole kid that’s been dead for decades now.”

“Dead…? You mean… he’s a demon…?”

“No, just a ghost. Still an asshole though. You probably shouldn’t play with him anymore.”

We finally make it back to the shore. Mallory is still laying on the ground, but her legs seemed to doing better. The rash was already scabbing over, the red tint less vivid.

“So, uh, this isn’t the kid we were sent to find, but we should probably leave.” I say.

“Oh? Okay… Dibs on not breaking the news to the parents!”

“Hey, we don’t know if he’s dead yet.”

“If he doesn’t bring his ass to this lake in the next hour, he will be.”

Mallory finally sits up, waving at Hunter. He waves back awkwardly.

“If you two go up that river over there, you should end up in town without any trouble.” She points to a river entrance different to the one we came from.

“What about you?”

“I’ll probably eat some snacks. Wait and see if the kid makes an appearance.”

“Are you going to be okay alone? Don’t forget you ran out of chicken.”

“I’ll be fine. Probably.” She grins at that last part.

“Alright… be safe.”

“Back at you.”

And with that, we part ways. Hunter was quieter than expected, probably just tired. Who knows how long he’s been in here.