one. from a spark to a flame

Luna and Tatum ambled into the room crammed with flashing multicolored lights and sweaty people dancing and hooking up. They were on a hunt for Luna's twin brother, Harlan, well Luna was, and Tatum was drawn away by the glowing headgear.

"Tatum, keep up," Luna instructed once she found out how far behind he was. "I can't find Harlan and keep track of you at the same time. And we also have to find my dad."

"He's probably in the "make-out zone" with some guy, per usual," Tatum replied as he placed the headband on his head. The neon colors became hidden by his dark curls. "You know that's his favorite place to be."

Luna clutched his hand in hers and hauled him in the direction of the room. And, as Tatum suggested, Harlan was in that location. With a guy, who had his hand in Harlan's pants. The guy glanced at him and Luna, the latter waved at him.

"Are they friends of yours?" the man asked Harlan, who reluctantly veered around to face the two.

"Kinda," Harlan answered with a bothered expression. "He's my friend... She's my sister."

"Wow, I knew you were gonna be in here kissing up on some guy, but this," Tatum declared as he motioned his hand around the scene in front of him. Harlan scoffed, adjusted his pants, and walked away, with Luna hot on his tracks. "Have a nice night."

The guy nodded awkwardly. Tatum walked away and followed the twins. Once caught up, he crossed his arms and gave the boy a stern look.

"Dad isn't responding to texts," Luna started.

"So?" Harlan questioned.

"So we're kinda worried, dick," Tatum declared. He felt resentful. And he had an inkling that Harlan could tell. "He might be missing."

"He's a park ranger," Harlan responded as he stepped past his sister. "They don't go missing in the middle of the woods."

"It doesn't feel right," Luna contended.

"Come on, Luna. You know what happens. Sometime tomorrow, he's gonna come stumbling through the front door, covered in ash, and fall asleep on the couch, and then he's gonna wake up, coughing like he's got pneumonia, and go and do it again," Harlan explained. "Look, can you just let it go? It's Friday night. The party only happens once a month."

"He's our father," Luna attempted to reason with her brother.

"Yeah, but not our real one," Tatum's eyes broadened at the boy's sentence. Luna eyes darted away from her brother with an upset expression. "I didn't say that."

"Yeah, you kind of did," Luna responded, her eyes not meeting her brother. "Look, are you gonna help me find him or not?" Harlan didn't give an answer. That answered Luna's query. "Fine, we'll find him ourselves. My sense of smell is better tonight anyway."

Tatum bumped Harlan's shoulder as he sauntered past him, going after Luna to the stairs. "Wait!" Tatum pivoted to face the other twin. "How much better?"

"A lot," Luna answered. "Why?"

"My hearing is turned up to ten," Harlan informed. "It's never been this good. Not even on a full moon."

"Same with me," Luna granted an answer. Tatum's eyes darted between the twins as they conversed. "But the full moon isn't for another two nights."

"How many times did you text Dad?" Harlan inquired.

"I don't know, a lot," Luna replied.

"If we went out there, do you think you'd be able to smell anything besides smoke?" Harlan asked.

"Yeah, that's why I need you," Luna contended. "I need your hearing."

"And I'm just here for shits and giggles," Tatum piped up from his slanting stance against the gray brick wall.

"You know what a fire that big sounds like?" Harlan asked, dismissing the boy's sentence. "Like a jet engine throttling up."

The conversation halted when Luna's phone hummed. She moved part of her light blonde hair behind her ear, her facial expression shifted from a halfhearted one to a worried one. "They found his truck."

"But not him?" Harlan polled, sharing the same look, and his tone matched. The three teens jogged up the stairs in a hurry, leaving the party.

Luna stopped the car at the investigation scene. There stood the beat-up truck, park rangers, cars, and dogs.

"Wow, a full-on manhunt," Tatum quipped as he got out of the car. The doors created vociferous slamming noises as the teens shut them.

"How bad is it?" Harlan asked one of the investigators.

"It's not great," she responded. "We think it might have been caught in the stampede that went through the freeway this morning. Whether your dad was actually in the truck is anyone's guess. Remember, it probably looks worse than it is. These animals were scared and desperate. Most of them were on fire when they can out of the woods."

"What kind of animals?" Luna put forward a question.

"Bears, big horns, mountain lions," she reeled off.

"What about wolves?" Harlan questioned.

"A wolf couldn't have done that," she pointed at the gigantic, gaping slashes on the truck.

"Fuck me," Tatum swore when his eyes laid on the scratches. He stepped up to the truck and felt around the gashes.

"There are fires every year," Harlan claimed.

"Not like this one," Luna proclaimed. "You heard what they said on the news. This is the worst fire in 18 years. Just like the one when Garrett found us. What if this time he found someone else?"

"Our real father," replied Harlan. Tatum glanced at him with his arms crossed and squinted his eyes.

"It's what you wanted, right?" Luna responded after a scoff fled her.

"Like you don't?" Harlan argued.

"I don't want someone who abandoned us 18 years ago," Luna argued.

"But you're the one always saying you don't feel like you've found your pack," Harlan announced. "Like, no one gets us and that you've ever wanted is to find someone like you. Well, now's your chance, Luna."

"If he's come back, if he's really still alive, and..." Luna trailed off, looking at the wrecked truck to her left. "And if he did that... Then he's coming for both of us."

"Well, thank God, I'm not a part of your family," Tatum let out along with a sigh of relief. The twins glimpsed at him with stern expressions. "Wrong time. Got it."

"I hate the fucking woods," Tatum announced as he stepped on yet another burned tree branch. "Why can't people ever go missing on a beach or something?"

Harlan shushed him as he came to a halt. The other teens did the same. "What, you hear something?" Harlan shook his head before saying, "Just the fire. Do you smell something?"

Luna smelled the air but nothing came to her or stuck out. She shook her head in response. "It's gonna be okay. He knows how to survive a wildfire."

"I'm not worried about the fire," Luna clarified. The two continued to walk around and search for Garrett, but no luck came.

Tatum trailed behind the twins, to no one's surprise, and was looking around when he listened to the sound of wolves howling. Harlan and Luna looked up at the sky for a moment before turning and running the opposite way they were headed.

"What the- Fuck!" Tatum swore loudly as he ran after the two werewolves. "Hold on, guys! Wait up!"

"You guys are some fast motherfuckers," Tatum spoke out when he came across the twins. After catching his breath, he realized that they weren't alone, but two other kids from the school were standing in front of them.

"Tatum?" Everett called out with a confused expression. Tatum waved as he walked over to the group. "Are you a werewolf too?"

"What? No," Tatum fibbed as he kneeled down to help catch his breath, the chuckle that escaped him alerted them that he was lying. "Fine, I'm a werewolf. Wait... Are you... Are they... Oh, what the fuck."