♣

The rest of the car ride had been driven in silence. Mason had switched the radio to a rock station and turned it about ten notches too loud, so the sound of a bunch of twenty-something men screlting their hearts out filled the vehicle. Sawyer didn't necessarily care for rock music, but it wasn't as bad as some of the other genres he was subjected to. His younger sister Sadie had an affinity for early 2000's pop, and that was worse than anything Mason would blast on his stereo.

Sawyer resisted the urge to go on his phone. Mason had offered to drive them, and he didn't want to be the "rude kid that tuned out the world." This was quite possibly a label Sawyer had generated in his head and nobody else had ever thought of him in that way before, but regardless, it still didn't feel right to him.

Plus, even going on his phone wouldn't distract him from his curiosity towards Oscar. He told himself he'd drop it, but he continued to sneak looks towards the mirror. Oscar no longer looked sad, just deep in thought. If a spontaneous fire started right beside the car directly in Oscar's field of vision, it'd be unlikely to phase him at all.

Mason pulled into a handicapped parking spot, stopping the car then turning towards Oscar. "They won't tow me, right?"

"Are you going in?" Oscar asked.

"God no."

"Then you have nothing to worry about. Though, they wouldn't tow you anyways. I've never seen anyone get towed here. And I have paperwork at my house."

Mason nodded, though Sawyer could tell he zoned out after 'you have nothing to worry about.' Sawyer got out of his seat, going around to the back to help Oscar out of his. He grabbed his crutches, shut the door, and Mason pulled out of the parking space without a second's hesitation.

The complex wasn't too large nor busy, so why Mason pulled into a handicapped spot that was still far away from the shop was unknown to Sawyer. Maybe he wanted to be an asshole, or maybe he was just genuinely clueless. They walked at a steady pace towards the store, Oscar taking in the sights around them. He clearly hadn't been around that area much before. He lived forty minutes away from Sawyer and the rest of them, so it must've taken him a half an hour to get to this shop the last time they were there. And forty minutes to their house just to check on them that morning.

Sawyer had told himself he wouldn't bring anything up, but since Oscar didn't initiate a conversation, it was on him. "Oscar?"

Oscar's head shot down to Sawyer's level, similar to the way a dog's would if it were half a foot taller than the human. "Yep?"

"Is... everything okay?"

He furrowed his brow, then let out a sigh of understanding. "Oh, that. Yeah, don't worry about it. People like to talk about me." Sawyer opened his mouth to ask more, but was interrupted by Oscar taking in a breath to speak. "So, the antique store," he started. "How 'antique' is it?"

"What do you mean?"

"Do they have 70's stuff? Or is it just... 50's and before kind of stuff?"

Oscar really hadn't been in an antique store before. "They have everything, honestly. But they definitely have 70's stuff, I can promise that."

His face lit up. "I wish I brought cash. I was planning on going clothes shopping soon. I guess Tessa can drop something off if I really need it," he said, seemingly to himself.

"Who's Tessa?" Sawyer asked, surprising himself with his inquiry.

"My aunt. She's watching me until my parents pick me up."

"Oh, are they on vacation?"

Oscar's face flushed a little, but his smile remained. "No, they're here." Oscar's gaze changed to focus on the storefront window. Suddenly, it was as if he forgot what they had just been talking about, and his jaw fell open. "Whoa, is that a jukebox?"

Sawyer checked what he was looking at. A big rainbow jukebox was positioned behind the glass at the front of the store. It had clear age on it, the colors dull and corners full of dents, but that thing never ceased to look impressive. Perhaps it was the sheer of it compared to the miniature cassettes, stuffed animals, and baby clothing sprinkled around it in decoration. Or perhaps it was the function that they found special. Well, Sawyer found it interesting. Oscar found it special. Oscar looked at that thing as if he had never seen something so mind-blowing in his life.

"Oh, yeah," Sawyer answered. He was so distracted by the boy's fascination with the object that he forgot he had even asked a question at all.

"Wow! I didn't see that the other day!"

Oscar picked up the pace, approaching the shop. No matter how much Sawyer may have wanted to, he wasn't going to pry any more than he already had. He might not be the best with human emotions, but he could tell when people were changing the subject to avoid a difficult topic. Oscar had a habit of doing that quite often. Deflecting, his mother would call it. While it was clear that something was wrong, Sawyer wasn't going to be the one to call him out on this and push further.

Oscar was an inch away from the display, head slightly tilted. Sawyer joined beside him. "It's beautiful," Oscar whispered.

"It's pretty cool."

"Understatement of the year." Oscar faced Sawyer. "Does it work?"

"Oh, um, I'm not sure. I've never asked."

"I hope it does. I hope they have The Chords."

"I mean, I'm sure it can play chords?"

Oscar laughed. Sawyer felt a part of his heart sink in embarrassment. "No, The Chords. They're a group from the 50s. I'll show you them when we get inside."

The rest of the group showed themselves from behind the building's corner, Daniel lugging along his camera while swaying with every step. "Everything good?" Sawyer called.

"Yep. Someone just took a nap on the way here," Theo teased, tapping Daniel on his shoulder. That touch sent Daniel to the side, nearly dropping his camera.

"You okay, Dan?" Sophie asked, grabbing his arm.

Daniel shook his head, forcing his eyes open. "Yeah, I guess I was just really tired."

Sawyer predicted that something like this would have happened, though he began to question himself when he saw how well Daniel was dealing. He couldn't imagine waking up to the news that someone your age was found dead in your neighborhood. Especially when the body was three minutes from your house.

Sawyer tugged on the door, only to be met with resistance. He tried a few more times, but the door did not budge.

"Is it locked?" Abigail asked. Sawyer nodded.

"The light's on," Theo observed. It was, though the set-up of the shop inhibited the group from seeing anyone inside.

Sawyer knocked, loud enough to be heard but not loud enough to be obnoxious. After a moment and audible shuffling heard from inside, Kal opened the door to the point where only his face was visible. His eyes were lined with deep purple circles, hair spread unevenly across his forehead. "We're closed today!" he voiced. He flipped the sign in the window so that it read "CLOSED."

"Why are you here?" Sawyer asked.

Kal stared blankly. "Cleanup."

"Well, is Caleb in there?" Daniel chimed in.

Another blank stare in Daniel's direction. "No."

Suddenly, the sound of something falling and possibly breaking rang out from the back of the store. The group jumped, which made Kal react, not to the sound, but to their worried faces. Sawyer signed "loud noise" to Kal, and his eyes widened. "We're closed. Go home," he said, and shut the door on their faces.

Theo lip drilled to break the silence. "Well, this was a waste of time."

"Maybe we should have checked if they were open," Abigail suggested.

"They're always open this time on Saturdays," Daniel argued.

"Shoot, has Mason left yet?" Quinn asked, spinning around the empty parking lot.

"Something's up," Sawyer spoke. He replaced his hand on the doorknob, twisting it and finding less resistance than before. He heard a small click of the mechanism inside working.

Sawyer pushed the wood forward, revealing... nothing. Nothing had seemed out of the ordinary. If they hadn't just talked to Kal, they would assume it was just another day.

Kal ran into view, wiping sweat from his forehead. When he caught a glimpse of the kids, he stopped dead in his tracks. "What are you doing?!" Kal shrieked. His face was red with fury, but his eyes also revealed a bit of panic as well. He switched from voicing and signing to strictly using rage-fueled sign language.

"I tell you the store is closed, I shut the door, and you come in anyways?! You stupid kids! You never listen! There could be a bomb in this room right now and would you leave? No!"

Sawyer put his hands up in an act of 'surrender.' "Hey. Hey, let me explain," he signed and voiced.

"Explain what?!"

"We were making sure you were okay. There was another crash."

"Is someone there?" a deep voice called from around the corner. Kal followed their eyes towards the sound and, without hesitation, scrambled to the source. He stared at the voice Sawyer recognized as Caleb in panic and started signing something none of them could understand. In the middle of one of Kal's sentences, the voice yelled, "Go home!"

"I thought Caleb wasn't here," said Quinn.

Kal raced back towards the group. "Listen to me, " he voiced. "I'm serious. You need to go. I don't want to see you back here again until I call you."

"But-"

"No. No arguing, Daniel. I don't care where you go, but you're not hanging out here. Jesus, how much more do I have to say for you guys to just listen?" Kal held his head in his hands, rubbing his temples as he prowled about the carpet.

The group shifted their heads from one person to another. "He's really freaked out," Abigail whispered. "We should probably go."

Sawyer stepped forward, but was held back by Theodore. "Be smart about this," they warned. Sawyer pulled his arm away, not acknowledging their comment. Kal appeared to be half signing to himself and half throwing his hands in frustration. Sawyer waved to get Kal's attention, but when he didn't see him, he tapped him on the back. Kal made eye contact, only to immediately push him aside.

Sawyer let out a sigh. When Kal said something, he stuck to it, even if he was proven wrong a hundred times. It was very rare that Kal admitted to making a mistake. He had a tendency to drop this act around Caleb occasionally, but around Sawyer and the others, he was a rock.

But so was Sawyer.

Sawyer forced himself in Kal's line of sight, and despite initial rejection of this, Kal fixed his posture and clenched his jaw. He didn't want to listen to Sawyer any more than Sawyer wanted to have this talk.

"We're worried," he signed.

"Don't."

"We can't help it." Sawyer paused before adding, "You're scaring us."

"We just told you that we're closed. We can't close our store?"

"There's clearly something going on and we don't feel right just leaving you here."

"You'd feel worse if you stayed."

Suddenly, Caleb ran into the room, clutching their stomach. His letterman jacket's right sleeve had been torn straight through to his skin, revealing a stream of blood dripping from the gash. His face had matching red smears across it, though no wound was found on this part of his body. "Get the fuck out," he breathed. Caleb had never sworn at them before. Hearing those words come out of his mouth churned all of their stomachs.

Before anyone could say anything, Kal sprinted behind the service desk, shuffling through the drawers before pulling out a first aid kit. He threw it open and revealed a roll of bandage wrap.

"Caleb?" Sophie started. She wasn't sure exactly what to say. None of them were.

"Kal's going to take you guys out of here," Caleb explained while Kal placed a cotton ball on his arm and began to cover his injury with the wrap. Kal shook his head.

"No, I'm not going anywhere."

"Somebody needs to make sure they're okay," Caleb argued.

"They're old enough. They're fine."

"WHAT IS GOING ON?" Daniel screamed.

Caleb stopped what he was about to say. Kal lowered his head back to Caleb's arm, but before he continued with the treatment, he signed, "Don't tell."

Caleb clenched his jaw. He directed his gaze at the ground. "You wouldn't believe us. But for right now, you need to get out of here. Please. I promise, we'll explain everything."

The group looked at one another, and all came to an unspoken agreement. One by one, they turned towards the door, Sawyer left staring at the two boys. Caleb mouthed "go" and Sawyer sighed, turning away. Quinn opened the door, and as they stepped out, just for a moment, everything went black, before they took another step and were met with the interior of an antique shop, and two boys standing in the center, one bleeding out and permanently staining the wooden panels below.

"I thought we told you to leave?" Caleb said, tone more exhausted than anything.

Theo gulped. "We did."

♣

AJ had no way of getting to Mathias' house alone. They couldn't drive–not after the last time they were in the car. And they definitely couldn't walk alone.

But there was still the bus.

AJ had her playlist on shuffle, volume up to a level that was likely dangerous for her eardrums. The bus wasn't all too crowded, but she did have someone next to her. He seemed to be around college aged, possibly a student at the community college fifteen minutes away. He too had his earbuds in, reading The Scarlet Letter. Yep, definitely a college student.

AJ bounced her leg up and down. Brianna, Mathias, and herself were planning on catching up on a video game they had started earlier. Neither of them knew what AJ experienced the previous night. AJ knew she should've told them, but she couldn't bring herself to. She just wanted a break from everything, a safe place that she could depend on without pity. Mathias and Brianna were great for that.

Despite what everyone, including herself, initially thought, Mathias and Brianna weren't dating. Brianna had been in an on-and-off relationship with a guy at their school, Spencer, since sophomore year, and while Mathias had been telling her to ditch him, this wasn't out of jealousy. Anyone with half a brain cell could see that the two weren't right for one another. Mathias seemed more like Brianna's brother than anything. This made it much easier for AJ to feel comfortable around the two. While they were closer with one another in general, while the three were together, she always felt included.

AJ felt a chill descend down her spine. She touched the tip of her skin, not sensing any change in temperature. It wasn't until it happened again that AJ looked around at those on the bus. Though she could not see it, she could feel it.

Someone was watching her.

It hadn't been on the news. The media didn't release her name. She made sure not to do any interviews. Yet, someone still knew.

"Are you alright?" the man next to her asked. She flipped her head towards him. He had taken his earbuds off, and was looking her in the eye. He didn't look annoyed, just concerned.

"Yes, thank you." The bus came to a halt. "This is my stop."

AJ gathered her things, stepping over the man's feet and careful not to trip. She didn't have much with her, so she was able to be the first person off the bus. After about five others exiting and four entering, the bus left the stop, leaving AJ in front of a strip mall complex, about two miles away from Brianna's house.

She had no idea what was going on in her brain, but her instincts told her that she had to get off of that bus. Something wasn't right there. Still, even after stepping off, she felt the same chill pass over her spine.