Page 39 of Backwoods Banshee

Adam considered it.

His Sight said yes.

“There are six souls missing, six people trapped somewhere outside their bodies. I don’t know how, but this is connected.”

“All right then. I’ll get to work on the location.”

“What about you? You’re risking an awful lot for this, your position at the school and with the Guardians.”

“Information should be free, and someone messed with my records, with me. I need to know why.” Jack’s golden eyes gleamed with anger, something Adam had never seen.

“You don’t like being toyed with.”

“No, no, I do not.” Jack examined the cylinder. “I’ll let you know when I’ve got something we can use.”

“Thanks.” Adam took a breath and spoke to the closet door. “I’d like to go home, if that’s okay.”

The door clicked and Adam stepped through.

He was home, in the apartment.

“Thank you,” he said to the hall closet door as he closed it behind him.

“Oh, there you are,” Vic said, coming around the corner.

“Yeah, Jack grabbed me for a thing.”

Adam told him what had happened.

“Think you can trust this scholar or whatever she was?”

“I don’t know. She’s definitely got issues. The way she was treating those books—it was like they didn’t matter at all. I mean, I know they’re not sacred objects or anything, but to just pile them up in the rain . . .”

“My mom has some coworkers like that,” Vic said. “They’re not living in piles of mold, but they’re bitter. Burned out. They’re no fun at parties.”

Adam couldn’t imagine teaching. Maria hadn’t complained much, but she’d been struggling lately. She had students who didn’t know how to read critically or lacked the social skills she expected. She’d mentioned that whole classes would go by with everyone just absorbed in their phones, and she taught at the college level. She didn’t seem angry at them, but at the system itself. She said it had failed them by not handling things better.

Adam saw a lot of the same in his own class. No one really socialized. They just did their assignments and went home. He made a mental note to try and talk to Carlos more. They were about the same age and they worked together, so they had something in common.

It brushed against what Vic had mentioned at the graveyard.

There was a lack of community, a lack of anyone really knowing each other. Back home, in the trailer park, he and his great-aunt had known their neighbors. Adam had gotten along with most of them and they’d done odd jobs for each other, that kind of thing.

He and Vic didn’t know anyone in their building and he couldn’t remember offering anything more than a friendly nod. Part of him sank to know he did that, but a big part of him also wanted to hide, to not reach out beyond his safe little circle.

“It reminds me of the Wolf,” he said.

Vic didn’t move, but he tensed. Adam could tell Vic wanted to hug him but was being cautious.

Adam moved closer, signaling that it was okay.

Vic exhaled, just a little, and tightened his arms around Adam.

“I don’t want to get like that,” Adam said to the center of Vic’s chest.

The fabric of Vic’s T-shirt was smooth against his cheek. He could feel, as much as hear, Vic’s heartbeat.

“You’re not.”