“This is why I never had kids. They told me they were smart… Smart, my ass, day one and two of them are almost dead…”

It was a vaguely familiar voice, extremely deep and gravely, and with an accent I couldn’t place. The voice was audibly irritated, but not angry.

“Don’t interfere, they said. Don’t meddle. This isn’t a fucking nature doc, what was I supposed to do…”

I was lying on something soft. Not as soft as a bed, but maybe a couch or a futon. The room smelled like pine and tar. I heard and felt heavy footsteps pace across the room, objects being picked up and set down, and somewhere — probably in another room — a radio.

I struggled to open my eyes. I was right; I was on a futon, inches from rich wooden floorboards. The golden rays of a setting sun flooded in through half-closed blinds. Where the light reached, I saw dust dance slowly towards the floor. A pair of feet strode in and out of my view. My host wasn’t wearing any shoes, but violently pink socks with little pictures of bees on them.

“Oh, and not to mention the car. Whose bright idea was that? Reporters and cops fucking everywhere…”

My host continued grumbling as he finally walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. For the brief moment the door was open, I could see Amelia on the other side. She was on a mattress like me but more awake and accompanied by Charon, who was sitting cross-legged on the floor. They were talking, but I couldn’t hear what they said.

I considered sitting up. However, I discovered that moving a single muscle hurt at least fifty times worse than being punched in the face by Jared Woodard. All I could do was shut my eyes and go back to sleep.

The second time I woke up, the sun was rising. I felt easier in my body now, even though it still ached. With great effort, I was able to support my upper body’s weight on my elbows and look around the room a little better.

So many plants sat on the windowsills that there was a green hue in the air. There wasn’t much furniture aside from my futon. A wooden desk against one wall, a bookshelf against another, and a floor length mirror next to it. I managed to shift into a position where I could see my reflection.

My cheeks looked hollower than before, my skin was ashy and my hair greasy. The dark bags under my eyes were so prominent it looked almost like I was wearing makeup. I had never seen a ghoul, and I hoped I never would, but I imagined I resembled one quite the bit.

The door creaked open. It hadn’t been locked.

“Good morning.”

Had my body worked, I would’ve run away screaming.

It was the enormous man who had come to warn Elvira once. Elias. He looked even huger indoors. He had to duck to fit through the door, and his long viking hair touched the ceiling when he straightened his back. He didn’t radiate the same raw power that he had back in San Fransisco. It was as if he was holding it back.

He was wearing more casual clothes now as well; fuzzy yellow and green socks, jeans with rips in them, and a tight-fitting t-shirt. I wondered if he had to get his clothes custom-made because I wasn’t sure I had ever seen jeans that long at stores.

“I know I’m intimidating, but there’s no need to look that scared,” Elias said, but he didn’t really sound that offended. “I saved you and your friends, after all.”

Elias sat down on the floor next to me. He had a green glass bottle with him, which I would’ve needed a bottle opener for but he cracked it open easily with bare hands.

“Here. It’s just sparkling water,” he said and handed it to me.

I was wary, but reminded myself that the bottle had been sealed close and I recognised the brand. I took a sip. It tasted just like normal sparkling water, which I honestly wasn’t a big fan of. I was still happy to drink it; I hadn’t realised how dry my throat was.

“Why are you helping us?” I asked when the bottle was half-empty.

“Why shouldn’t I?” Elias said.

“You’re Elvira’s brother, right? She betrayed us,” I said.

“Well, I wouldn’t know about that. I don’t keep in touch with her,” Elias said.

“I heard you talk earlier. Someone told you to watch us and not interfere. Who?” I grilled him.

“Listen, kid, I appreciate your enthusiasm but I’m the one who’s supposed to be asking the questions here,” Elias said. He sounded like he was starting to get pissed off, and I didn’t want to see what he was like then. When he was sure I wasn’t asking him anything else, he said: “How do you feel?”

“Tired, but better. It feels like… like, my body is too slow?” I said. I lifted the bottle as an example. My hand trembled holding it, and it took much longer than normal for the signal from my brain to reach my arm.

“That’s expected,” Elias said, nodding. “You put yourself through something that could have turned a grown man into a puddle. You’re lucky you’re still with us.”

“I teleported myself, a car and two people across four states. How is that even possible?” I said.

“It’s not. But young magic is unpredictable,” Elias said.

“So what’s next, I blow up the whole country?” I said, genuinely worried it could happen.

“If you don’t learn to control yourself soon, who knows,” Elias admitted.

“My uncle is supposed to teach me. He’s the only one who can,” I said. It was more a reminder to myself to keep focused, rather than an answer to Elias.

“Yes. I heard about your little mission. I think it’s stupid,” Elias said bluntly.

“It’s not stupid, I have to do it,” I argued, a little bit insulted.

“So what’s your plan, then? Wander around the country and hope you come across him?” Elias said.

“No, I…” He had a point. I had no idea where Uncle Killian could be. All I knew was that the crow wanted to show me Washington, D.C. for some reason. “It’s better than just sitting around doing nothing.”

“I admire that, but it’s still a shit strategy. You’ll end up getting yourselves killed before you find anyone,” Elias said.

He sighed and got to his feet. He glanced at the two watches strapped together around his wrist and said: “I’ll give you and your friends a ride to the nearest bus stop once you’ve had something to eat. Finish your water and put on some clothes, I’ll be in the kitchen.”

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He left the door cracked open as he exited the room. The door on the other side of the hallway, through which I had seen Charon and Amelia earlier, was closed.

I had to finish the sparkling water at a slow pace to avoid throwing up. The clothes I’d been wearing before the whole teleporting incident were folded neatly in a pile on the desk. I changed into them and discovered they were freshly washed and smelled like birch. My shoes were nowhere to be seen, but I assumed they would turn up somewhere.

Once I was sure I could stay upright for more than one minute straight, I made my way to the door on the other side of the hallway. I felt a little awkward and knocked.

It opened, and I was greeted with painful strangle Amelia liked to call a hug. I coughed at the impact, but hugged her back gently.

“Come on, he’s hurting,” Charon said next to us. Amelia let go reluctantly.

Amelia looked much better than me, but she was not in good shape by any means. She was still pale and her under-eyes rivalled mine. It seemed like she had gained her energy back faster, though, which was a good sign.

“Can someone please explain to me what happened while I was out?” I said breathlessly. I was getting dizzy again, and my empty stomach complained loudly.

“We’ll tell you over breakfast, alright?” Amelia said.

As Charon helped me get around, I finally got to see what kind of a house we were in. It was a single story, as far as I saw, and surprisingly nicely decorated. Most of the furniture, specifically the tables, chairs and couches, were bigger than normal. There were windows everywhere letting natural light in, and the army of thriving plants continued throughout the entire house.

From what I could see through the windows, we were in the middle of a forest. There were no other houses nearby, or concrete roads or cars.

In the kitchen, Elias was making a breakfast scramble. We sat around a round table, not much different from the one at Elvira and Fiona’s. My feet didn’t quite reach the floor, and instead dangled an inch or so from it. Amelia’s toes barely brushed the floorboards; Charon was the only one of us who could properly reach the floor, but only just.

Elias placed plates piled with food in front of each of us; toast, bacon, eggs, fresh tomatoes and cucumber slices for Amelia and I, and something raw and red for Charon which he looked a bit embarrassed to eat, but wolfed down nevertheless.

“Where are we?” I asked after a couple of bites of toast. It tasted like heaven.

“Not far from Washington. I got you all bus tickets, the ride shouldn’t take more than an hour,” Elias said. He poured himself a cup of black coffee.

“Why can’t you just drive us all the way to Washington?” I asked.

“I have urgent business out of town,” Elias said. “And like you said, I’m not supposed to interfere. The quicker I get rid of you kids, the better.”

“Wow. Thanks,” Charon muttered.

Elias finished his coffee in one big gulp and got to his feet. “Finish your breakfast. We’ll leave in half an hour,” he said gruffly and then left.

“So what happened?” I asked once Elias was gone.

“Amelia’s spell was wearing off and people started looking at us. There were reporters and police on their way over and I had no idea what to do,” Charon explained. “I was trying to get us all out of there, but it was getting really hard to carry both of you. You were unconscious and Amelia could barely stand on her feet. That’s when he came.”

“He just… came?” I repeated.

“Yeah. I don’t know where he came from, he was just there, and then he scooped both of you up like nothing and told me to follow. And Oscar, he reeks of power. I couldn’t say no,” Charon said.

“No, I know what you mean.” I shuddered as I remembered the night I first saw him.

“I mean, he is a giant,” Amelia pointed out.

“Yeah, he’s massive,” I agreed.

“No, he’s a giant. A real giant. I didn’t think I’d ever get to see one,” Amelia said.

“Oh,” I said. “I thought a giant would be more… uh, big.”

“They used to be,” Charon said sadly.

“Okay, so what happened next? He brought us here?” I asked.

“Yeah. He made you and Amelia drink something, I don’t know what, but it helped a little. Amelia was feeling better the next evening and you slept a couple of more days,” Charon said.

“I slept for three days?” I said. So much for being ahead of schedule.

“Yeah. It was pretty boring while you guys were recovering, so I helped around the house.” Charon shrugged. “Watered the plants and stuff. That’s pretty much all that happened while you were out.”

“Did he tell you why he’s helping us?” I asked hopefully.

“No, he didn’t talk much,” Charon answered.

—

After we were done eating, Charon made us some sandwiches and borrowed a Tupperware box from Elias to put them in. He also grabbed some bananas, protein bars and more sparkling water. He packed everything into an off-white tote bag with a printed picture of a stressed-looking cartoon bear on it. There was a speech bubble next to it that said: I can’t bear this anymore.

Elias drove us to the bus stop like had promised. His car was a big blue truck, and even though it was bigger than most cars I had seen, he had trouble fitting. Before we left the car, he gave me a blue envelope, a business card and a small knife in a leather sheath.

“There are bus tickets and some money in there,” he said and nodded towards the envelope, “and the number on the card is for emergencies only. I mean it; they’re very annoying. The knife is for self defence.”

“Okay. Thanks,” I said and gave the envelope to Charon. I looked at the card; Bullock and Berger Lawyer Solutions, it said in deep purple ink. There was a phone number and an address under the company name as well. I tucked it into my pocket. I was surprised to still find the finger bone the old lady in Arizona had gifted me. The knife fit easily into my other pocket.

“Try not to get yourselves killed,” Elias said as we (quite literally) hopped out of the car. Charon was the only one polite enough to say goodbye to him.

We ate our protein bars while we waited for the bus. It wasn’t like the city bus stops I saw back home; it was just a creaky old bench someone had brought there years ago, and a bus sign someone had kicked so it was tilted. The road had more cracks than concrete, and everywhere else I looked there was forest. It was actually kind of nice.

We spent the bus ride scheming.

“Let’s go over it again. What exactly did you see in your dream?” Amelia asked. She was sitting next to me, and Charon was behind us leaning over the backs of our seats.

“The crow, the storm and the monument. That’s literally it,” I answered. I felt incredibly unhelpful. What if it had been just that, a dream? What if we were going to the completely wrong place?

Outside, the clouds grew heavier and the winds were starting to pick up. Rain pattered on the windows and the roof of the bus. At least I had predicted something correctly. There was a storm on its way.

I told my friends about my latest dreams, the first one about Killian and the second about my mother. I still struggled to say mom out loud.

“Listen, Oscar… I’m not sure how much you can trust those dreams,” Charon said carefully.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Visions are biased unless you’re a true seer. How do you know whoever’s sending them to you isn’t malicious?” Charon said.

“Wow, big word,” Amelia jibed.

“All I’m saying is that we’re looking for your uncle and we shouldn’t get sidetracked,” Charon said.

“Yeah, but what if I do need to find that prophecy? What if it helps us?” I pointed out.

“A seer once told my cousin Ilias he was going to meet the love of his life in a plane, so he became a steward. He hated the job but he did it every day for ten years until he overworked himself and had to quit. Turns out, the seer meant a plain, as in a field,” Charon said in a smart voice.

“What’s the lesson of the story, don’t become a steward?” Amelia snorted.

“The lesson is that knowing your future doesn’t do you any good in the end,” Charon said. I wasn’t convinced, but he seemed to know about it more than I did so I didn’t argue.

“Let’s just continue working on the plan, okay?” I said. “Getting a new ride could be a good start.”

“I hate to break it to you, but we don’t have enough money to buy a car,” Charon said.

“No, I know,” I said quickly.

“Charon could probably charm someone into giving him a car,” Amelia quipped. She didn’t sound particularly mean, which took both me and Charon by surprise.

“That’s basically stealing. Besides, I don’t know how to do it,” Charon said. It could’ve been just me still being out of it, but he sounded embarrassed.

“I thought all sirens could do it,” Amelia said.

“Yeah, but you need to learn how, first. I don’t know how to control my charm, especially with strangers. I think it’s the anxiety,” Charon answered, wringing his hands.

“Is that why you got popular so fast?” Amelia asked.

“It’s not like I wanted to,” Charon said.

“Okay, so just asking a stranger for a car is not an option,” I said, desperate to get back on track.

“But is stealing in general out of the question?” Amelia inquired.

“Yes!” Charon said.

“I mean…” I started.

“We’re not stealing a car. End of story,” Charon said.

“What about public transport?” I suggested. I liked the bus we were on. It was quiet — just an old couple and one pregnant woman with a little girl besides us — and Amelia didn’t have to focus on driving.

“That would be useful if we knew where we were going,” Amelia said, bursting my bubble.

“Taxis?”

“Too expensive in the long run,” Charon said.

“Right,” I sighed. “I guess we’ll figure it out on the go. Does anyone have suggestions on what we actually do now, though?”

“We could go back to the monument. See if we can find any clues,” Amelia suggested.

“I think that’s all we can do for now,” Charon agreed.

“Okay. Back to Washington Monument we go,” I said.