Kasey materializes in the front seat just as I’m nearing the edge of Ketterbridge.

I rush to pull my car over, hope rising in my chest - but the ghosts didn’t find Aiden. Kasey doesn’t have to say it. I can tell from the expression on her face.

We stare at each other in silence.

“Did you check the field on the mountain?” I finally ask. “Where the Fling Thing happens?”

Kasey nods, her black eyes frustrated and sorrowful.

“I walked all over it. Checked along the edges, like you said. There were no footprints in the snow, and it definitely hasn’t snowed since Aiden went missing. I even walked up and down the road that goes up the mountain. Twice. Aiden wasn’t there.”

While I’m still processing that, Kasey pins on: “I kind of don’t get why you thought he would be.”

I clear my throat, hoping that my voice won’t give away how crestfallen I am at Kasey’s news.

“I thought he might have gone to his Guardian Tree.” I drop my hands into my lap, then stare down at them. “That’s how we got there, when he took me. We left from that field.”

“Oh,” Kasey says softly. “Good thought, Jamie.”

“I would go look for him at the Tree itself, but I don’t know how to find it.” I let out a heavy breath, press my fingers to my aching eyes. “I’ve only been there once, in the middle of the night, and it’s deep in the woods. But I guess - if Aiden didn’t go to the field, then… I must have been wrong about him being at the Tree.”

Kasey nibbles her lip. “What’s next?”

I put my hands back on the wheel, then turn to face the road ahead.

“I’m worried that maybe Aiden got so mixed up, he thinks he’s still traveling, wandering. He doesn’t have his wallet, but he’s got a ton of experience hitching. So I’m gonna go check Greenrock and Port Sitka and all the other nearest towns. See if he made it to one of them.”

Kasey falls quiet, a pained look on her face.

“We can’t go with you,” she says. “Will and I, we can’t leave Ketterbridge. We can’t help.”

“Hey. Look at me.” I catch her eyes, manage to look into them steadily. “You’re helping from here. I need you to keep looking for him.”

We’ve already checked literally everywhere we can think of in Ketterbridge. We spent all morning doing that. I half expect Kasey to point this out, but she only nods.

A sudden, fiery burst of determination flares in her eyes.

“We’ll look again,” she says.

I hold my palm out, and Kasey places hers on it. That’s all the communication that passes between us before she vanishes, but it’s enough.

I put my car back in gear. The engine groans pitifully as I pull back out onto the road.

“It’s okay, buddy,” I say, smoothing my shaking hand over the dash. “Everything’s gonna be okay.”

~~~~

My day is a blur of unfamiliar places. I’m traversing roads I’ve never driven down, visiting towns I’ve never been to. Trying to find the right face in the crowd.

I barely take stock of my surroundings. I’m only looking at people. The search for Aiden has given me tunnel vision, fucked up my ability to process anything else. Once I’m sure he’s not in a place, that place collapses into memory fragments and disappears.

I stop at every town I come across. I pull over at gas stations, check every rest stop, every bus depot. I go way past Greenrock and Port Sitka and the other nearest towns. Driving in silence for long stretches, recurrent bursts of quiet fear sending thorny sparks through my chest.

I scan every face I see, but none of them are familiar. They all start to look the same. The only change is the background behind them. First a sunny afternoon sky, then a ruby red sunset, then a dusky twilight.

Night falls, and still, I’ve had no luck.

My car lets out another groan, this time with a wheezing, rattling sound mixed in.

“It’s okay,” I answer, squeezing the steering wheel. “We’re gonna go home now. The ghosts might have an update for me. Maybe Aiden even came back, wouldn’t that be good?”

I can hear the exhaustion in my own voice. I’m running on no sleep, and I’ve been anxious and jittery for way too long. I’m absolutely sick of feeling this way, but I can’t make it stop.

Apparently my car is feeling just as terrible as I am. I slow down, but the engine is huffing and growling, hissing.

“No,” I breathe, my heart sinking. “No, please, buddy - I know I put you through a lot today, but you’re okay, you’re fine…”

Smoke starts to furl out from under the hood.

My car manages to limp its way to the nearest mechanic that my maps app can find. The engine stalls out completely right as I put it in park.

Small mercies, I guess.

~~~~

“Okay,” the mechanic says, straightening up from beneath the popped hood of my car. “You’ve got some serious problems.”

Tell me about it, I almost answer.

“It’s an old car,” I say instead, and the guy - whose coveralls say Dennis on the name patch - nods in a yeah duh kind of way.

I wish he would get to the point. I’ve already spent too long at this auto shop out in the middle of nowhere, and I’m desperate to get moving again. The chain-link fence on all sides of the outdoor lot is starting to make me feel trapped. I need to be out there looking for Aiden.

I check my watch, vividly aware of each second ticking by. “So - how long will it take to fix my car?”

Dennis shrugs his shoulders.

“Not sure. This thing is beat. All fixable, but it’s gonna cost ya.”

I look up from my watch, concerned. “How much?”

Dennis does some math in his head, then says a number that makes my mouth drop open.

“What?” I twist to look down at my car, taken aback. The engine is weeping crankcase oil tears. “Okay, I know it’s bad, but that’s - that’s more than the car is worth. Like, way more.”

Dennis shrugs again, unconcerned. “That’s what it costs.”

“It doesn’t need to be perfect! It just needs to run, that’s all-”

“That’s what it costs,” Dennis repeats, fixing me with a hard, unfriendly stare.

I run a hand through my hair, trying not to have a bigger meltdown than my car just did.

“Okay, well - can I just have a day to think about this? I’ll - I’ll rent a car in the meantime. You know somewhere around here I can do that?”

“There’s a place about five miles up the road,” Dennis says, pointing over his shoulder. “But if you leave this car at my shop and don’t contract me to fix it, I’m considering it abandoned property. It’s mine.”

I blink at him, thinking that he’s joking, but he doesn’t laugh.

“Wh-? Seriously?” I put a defensive hand on my car, my fingers spreading over the blue paint. “No, come on - I promise I’ll only leave it here for one night, at the most-”

“Heard that one before.” Dennis spits on the asphalt, then slams the hood of my car shut. “Take it, leave it, or fix it. Those are your options.”

I stare at him in disbelief. “Is this even legal?”

Dennis lets out a harsh laugh. “Hire a lawyer, then. One hour of his time will cost you more than the repair.”

I try to take a breath, but nothing reaches my lungs.

“Look - please, man,” I manage, my voice wavering. “This car means a lot to me, and you have no idea what I’ve already been through today-”

“If you want to get it fixed,” Dennis says loudly, speaking over me - “I’ll be in the office, where you can come make your deposit.”

He turns on his heel and walks back inside. Leaving me in his half-empty lot, alone with my car.

I turn slowly to look at it.

I can’t pay to get it fixed here, because I definitely can’t afford it. I can’t move it off the lot, because it won’t start. The engine is shot.

I could call a tow truck. That would actually be cheaper than paying to get it fixed. Or I could call my dad, have him help me move it. If he’s busy, Kent would probably come, or Raj and Noah… There are ways around leaving it here. But all of those options will take hours.

Every second I spend here is time that I could have spent searching for Aiden. He could be in danger. He needs me.

I love my car. But if it’s the car or Aiden, then...

I lean inside and gather up everything I can carry in my hands and pockets. My spare pair of secateurs, everything from the glove compartment, my aux cable. Then I get in and sit in the driver’s seat for a minute, put my hands on the wheel. A wheel so familiar that there are slight indents in the places where my fingers go.

I take the keys with me.

I stop in front of the hood, gazing down at my car. The first big thing I ever bought for myself. The windshield that Aiden and I lay back against to talk. The blue paint that’s somehow never faded, even as the rest of the car grew old.

My friend on wheels since I was a teenager.

“Oh, god,” I whisper, and bend down to hug the bright blue hood. “I’m so sorry, buddy.”

I take a long, silent look at it.

Then I step out of the gate in the chain-link fence and begin the five-mile walk to the car rental place.

~~~~

The sun has risen by the time I park the silver car I rented. I get out and blink hazily around at my surroundings.

Raj’s truck isn’t in the driveway, which I think means that he probably left for an early-morning job. And the carseat isn’t in Melanie’s car when I walk past it, so he must have taken Nikita with him.

The front door is unlocked. I slip inside and go up the stairs.

This might be a bad idea, but I need to talk to someone. I’m nervous to do that, afraid of accidentally letting something slip about Aiden’s magic. Especially when I’m this exhausted, my nerves this fragged. So it has to be someone who I know would never betray Aiden, no matter what. Someone that I trust, and trust completely.

Despite what Ralph might say, Noah is the most loyal kind of friend there is.

I knock on his closed bedroom door, then knock again when there’s no response. This time I hear a movement in the room. I try to force myself to wait quietly, but lose the battle.

“Noah! Open up, please-!”

I break off as the door swings open and I’m met with an eyeful of elaborate tattoos.

Noah’s grey eyes are hazy and squinted with sleep, his long black hair loose and messy around his shoulders. He’s wearing only a pair of sweatpants, and he’s still in the process of clumsily tying up the drawstring with his half-asleep fingers.

“Bro, quiet down,” he whispers, taking the balled-up shirt from under his arm. “You’re gonna wake up Mel.”

I look past Noah and realize that Melanie is asleep in his bed, cuddled up beneath the sea-green blanket.

“Shit, I’m so sorry,” I stammer. “I didn’t know she was in there.”

Noah gets his shirt on, steps out into the hallway, closes the door behind himself. He rubs his eyes, opens them again, and gets a better look at me.

He freezes, his grey eyes widening with alarm.

I can only imagine what I look like right now. I want to explain myself, but I just stand there staring back at Noah. Anxiously twisting my fingers together, biting my lip to hold back the tears.

“Jamie,” Noah says.

And for no reason I can name, this is enough to make me fall apart.

“I…” I feel the tears start to spill down my face, but I can’t stop them. “I’m freaking the fuck out, man, I haven’t slept in two nights, and my - my car is gone, I had to leave it, but it doesn’t even matter, all that matters is Aiden, but I can’t - can’t find him-”

My words are rushing out and stumbling over each other, becoming more and more like sobs with each one I manage to speak. Noah is staring at me, but I can’t make myself look at him.

“I’m so scared.” I swipe my sleeve over my cheeks, my voice thin and raw. “I’ve never been this scared in my life-”

I break off, stunned into silence as Noah pulls me into a tight hug.

I’m so shocked that I stop crying all at once, go limp in his arms.

“Take a breath, man,” Noah murmurs. “I can’t even understand what you’re saying. Go downstairs, take a second. I’ll be right there.”

I draw away, drag the back of my hand over my eyes. “Yeah, okay.”

I sit on the couch and put my face in my hands, trying to pull myself together. My secateurs are still in my back pocket. I take them out and set them on the coffee table.

Noah comes downstairs a minute later in his usual rippy black jeans and a torn-up sweater, his hair knotted in a bun. He drops to sit next to me on the couch, and I lift my head, still sniffling.

“What the fuck happened, man?” he asks.

“Aiden is missing.” Even saying it sends a stab of pain through me. “I still can’t find him.”

Noah jerks his head back, startled and alarmed.

“Still? Dude, why didn’t you tell me sooner - come on, let’s go fucking find him!”

He starts to get up. I seize his wrist and pull him back down onto the couch. If he helps me find Aiden, and Aiden isn’t in control of his magic, the secret is out.

“No, you can’t help me look for him, Noah! I’m sorry, but - please just trust me. I’m telling you, you can’t.”

Noah clearly wants to argue, but he manages to bite it back.

“Fuckin’... okay…” He looks like he’s having to physically force himself to stay on the couch. “I just want to help, man.”

“I know, but you can’t help that way.”

Noah blows out a frustrated breath. “What did you say about your car?”

I tell him what happened with the mechanic. It feels good to just talk, let it out. It almost makes me feel a little better. Almost.

Noah, on the other hand. His grey eyes are blazing with fury by the time I get to the end.

I startle as he suddenly gets to his feet, finds some socks in the nearby hamper, and starts pulling them on.

“Noah - what are you doing?”

“The fuck do you think I’m doing, man?” He looks up at me, tossing his hair out of his face. “I’m going to get your fucking car back.”

“What…?” I stare at him, then get to my feet, too. “How-?”

“You said the fence was chain-link, right?” Noah considers for a second, then reaches over and grabs my secateurs from the coffee table. “Do you care if I do something illegal?”

“I mean…” I let out a dazed, exhausted laugh. “No, I guess not? But don’t get caught, and don’t make trouble for anyone.”

Noah pauses, blinking at me in confusion. “Not even the guy who stole your car? But - he was mean to you, dude!”

“I don’t care!” I sputter. “That’s no excuse to be mean to him, is it?”

“Ugh!” Noah tosses his hands up in the air, then stuffs the secateurs into the back pocket of his jeans. “You fuckin’ cupcake, this is exactly why it makes me rage when someone is a dick to you, of all people-”

“Noah, don’t hurt anyone!” I interrupt, my cheeks starting to burn.

“Not hurt him, just a lil’ vandalism-”

“No!”

“Fine, fine!” Noah snags his bomber jacket from the back of the couch, then turns to face me. “Look, I’m gonna get your car back, but you need to go home and take a break before you do anything else. You look like you’re about to pass out.”

“It doesn’t feel like home without Aiden,” I answer, without thinking.

Noah hesitates, his expression softening.

“Then go to Aiden’s place,” he says gently. “Maybe that’ll help.”

He strides over to the door to pull on his boots. I follow him there, and he stops when he straightens up, looking at me.

I’m shocked to find myself pulled into the second hug I’ve gotten from Noah in under an hour.

“I know you’re gonna find Aiden, alright?” he says. “There’s just no way you won’t.”

He gives me a squeeze, lets me go. Then he disappears outside without another word.

I can’t fucking believe it, but I actually feel a tiny bit better.