Felix glared at the raccoon perched on top of the trash can. “Listen, buddy,” he said. “I respect you. But if you don’t let me throw this bag in there, we’re going to have a problem.” He took a slow step forward. The raccoon didn’t budge.

“Seriously, my sister has a sword. Don’t make me get her.” Felix doubted Helena would be eager to use her weapon on local wildlife, but that was the only comforting thought he could come up with. Thick gray clouds obscured the first rays of morning sun, and the lights from his house weren’t doing much to illuminate the end of the driveway where the trash can waited for pickup. He couldn’t help but feel a little uneasy.

The raccoon’s head tipped to the side. Did it understand that it was being threatened? What were the chances it had rabies? The last thing Felix needed was a trip to the hospital. But he was already running behind, and if he missed the bus again this week, Mom would definitely stop letting him stay out late with the tennis team.        

“All right. You asked for it.” Felix lifted the trash bag and swung. The raccoon hissed and flashed its upsettingly large fangs before leaping off the can and into the bushes lining the edge of the driveway. Felix stumbled forward. He crashed into the trash can, and the whole thing tipped over, spilling bags onto the cement.

There was a decent chance Mom was watching from the kitchen window, so he bit back a string of curses as he righted the can and shoved the bags back inside. He added this morning’s trash on top, slammed the lid shut, and turned around. The raccoon sat on its hind legs ten feet away, eyes on him.

“The hell is your problem?” Felix had never had particularly strong feelings about raccoons, but this same unnaturally large one had been out here every morning for the past week.

The raccoon blinked. Felix shuddered.

When he walked back into the kitchen, Helena looked up from the textbook she was reading and crammed another bite of cereal into her mouth. As usual, she’d gotten up early enough to be ready long before everyone else was even awake. The dirty blonde hair she’d gotten from Dad was pulled up in a ponytail, and she wore a bright blue shirt with her university’s logo on it. Her longsword lay unsheathed across the counter in front of her. Felix could already hear Mom’s lecture about leaving weapons there.

Helena swallowed. “You okay?” She asked, brow furrowing.

“I’m fine,” Felix told her. He rested his arms on the counter and leaned forward so that he could see his face reflected in the sword’s shiny blade. “That raccoon was out there again.”

May walked into the room as the words were leaving his mouth. “Aw, are you still scared of that raccoon?” she teased.

Felix groaned. “I’m not scared of it. I just don’t want rabies!” His reflection’s green eyes narrowed. “And it was your turn to take out the trash, anyway.”

“Then why’d you do it?” May asked.

“You were taking one of your long ass showers, and the bus is going to be here in five minutes!”

“I’m not going to school today,” May said. She tucked a piece of her chin-length dark brown hair—she shared the color with both Mom and her twin—behind her ear. “Neither is Ezra.”

Felix looked up. “What? Why not?”

“We have a doctor’s appointment.”

“Why don’t I have one?”

“It’s a twin thing.”

Helena rolled her eyes. “It’s not a twin thing. She and Ezra need a few booster shots before they go to college this fall.” She closed the textbook she’d been reading, and Felix’s brain hurt just seeing the words “Advanced Physics” on the cover. “May, we should go look for that raccoon later today and make sure it’s not—” She hesitated. “Make sure it doesn’t have rabies.”

May folded her arms. “You think it could be…sick?”

“Probably not, but I want to be sure.”

Great. They were having one of their weird little conversations again. Felix lowered his chin to his arms and glared at Helena’s sword. This close, he could see the tiny geometric symbols carved into the metal and around the teal-colored grip. When he’d asked Helena what they meant years ago, she’d mumbled something about buying it secondhand.

“Should we get Mom to help?” May asked.

Helena shook her head. “No, I think we can handle it ourselves.”

Mom entered the kitchen a moment later. Ezra trailed behind. “Ezra, where did you put my phone?” Mom stopped in her tracks when she saw Felix. “Felix, your hair!”

Felix ran a hand through the mess of light brown hair he hadn’t touched since waking up. “Uh…” Mom usually didn’t pay close enough attention in the morning to catch when he hadn’t brushed his hair.

“Come here.”

The distant rattle of the school bus reached them. “That’s the bus. I have to go.” Felix started backing toward the front door.

“Helena can drop you off on her way to class.” Mom’s stern gaze moved to the kitchen, where Helena was already grabbing her sword off the counter.

Despite being an early riser, Helena tended to run late, too. Better not to risk it. Felix grabbed his green baseball cap off the dining table as he passed it. “I’ll just wear this all day. Look, it matches my hoodie.”

“I thought I asked you to stop leaving hats lying around.”

“That’s why I’m taking it!” Felix continued to inch backward toward the front of the house.

Before Mom could respond, Ezra picked up one of his plants off the counter—something with white flowers Felix could never remember the name of—and looked up. “Did someone rearrange these? This one’s supposed to get more light.”

“Sorry, Ezra, I moved them while I was cooking last night.” Mom turned her attention back to Felix, absentmindedly twisting one of the silver rings on her hand as she did. She usually did that when she was anticipating something. What was going to happen when he left for school? What secret conversation was the rest of his family going to have without him?

May decided now would be a great time to chime in. “How come Ezra gets to keep his plants around the house, but I have to keep my rock collection in my room?”

“Not now, May.”

The bus was almost to the stop outside, judging by the roar of its engine. Felix waved as he pushed open the front door. “Bye, love you!”

Mom sighed. “Love you.” A smile crossed her face. “Good luck on your history test!”

Oops. Felix had forgotten about that. “Uh, yeah, thanks!” He’d have to cram during lunch. The door clicked shut behind him, and he set off down the driveway.

Dad stood next to the mailbox, clutching a few envelopes in his hands and staring intently at something in the distance. “Bye Dad, love you!” Felix called as he passed.

That snapped Dad out of whatever trance he’d been in. “Hey, Felix,” he said as he turned. “You have tennis practice today, right?”

Felix nodded. “I’ll be back around dinner.”

Dad looked a little surprised at that. “Not staying out late with the team?”

“Nope. Got homework.” Felix felt a twinge of annoyance at the question. Did everyone else want him out of the house today?

He reached the bus just as the last kid—besides him—was scrambling on. Felix hurried on after them, nodded at the bus driver, and made his way to the very back row where Jace waited.

“Wow, you actually made it today,” Jace said, lifting his backpack so Felix could sit down.

“Yeah, well, I almost had to fight that raccoon again.” Felix sank into the seat next to the window and threw one last glance at his house, where Dad was walking inside. Felix’s gaze darted back to the sidewalk, and he frowned.

“Maybe you should try locking up your trash can,” Jace suggested.

Felix barely heard him, too focused on the unfamiliar man standing at the end of his driveway, his back turned to the bus. His slicked back blonde hair, white suit pants, and matching white jacket with gold embroidered edges seemed excessive for the suburbs. Especially at seven in the morning.

“Who’s that?” Felix asked.

Jace glanced around the bus. “Who?”

The man looked back over his shoulder. His eyes glowed like a wild animal’s in the low light.

“What the hell?” Felix blurted.

“Huh?”

“Did you see that guy’s eyes?”

Jace leaned past Felix to peer out the window, but the bus was pulling away from the curb, and the man had turned back around. “That guy in front of your house?”

“Yeah. His eyes were glowing.”

“Are you sure you weren’t seeing things?” Jace asked. “It’s still kinda dark.”

Felix shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “I don’t know. He seemed sketchy.”

“You think he’s going to rob your house?”

“No. Probably not. I’m sure it’s fine.” Trying to shake off his concern, Felix added, “He’s probably just one of my parents’ weird friends.”

“I mean to be fair, your family’s kind of weird too.”

“What? No they’re not.”

“Your sister carries around a sword.”

Okay. Fair point.

Jace continued. “If he’s one of their friends, wouldn’t you recognize him?”

Felix shook his head. “No, I don’t really know any of them that well.” His parents’ friends only seemed to visit when he was going to bed, or leaving for tennis or school. This guy could’ve been one of them, he supposed. Maybe Felix had briefly met him already and forgotten about it.

Even with that rationalization, he was still unsettled. His anxiety persisted through the bus ride, but when he arrived at school, it was overwhelmed by the stress of the history test. Felix took every spare moment he had to review his messy notes and before long, he’d all but forgotten the strange man standing in front of his house.

The test left him feeling less than great, but he still had hope that he’d get away with a decent score. There were only a couple months left of school, anyway, and his grades were high enough to carry him through a few iffy exams.

Once school was out, Felix didn’t have much time to think about his grades or the strange man before tennis practice was in full swing.