The snowstorm had miraculously vanished along with the rift, and the baseball diamond now sat illuminated beneath the light of the full moon. Lester watched as thousands of flickering shadows played across the ground, but when he looked up, all he saw was an empty sky. There was no sign of whatever was causing the whispering, which now included a sharp clicking sound.

“Where is it!Where is it!”

In all of the confusion, Lester had nearly forgotten about Thomas.He turned to see him frantically searching through what remained of the cold snow with his bare hands.

“My pendant!” Thomas called.“I need to find my pendant!”

The whispers and clicking grew louder, and the shadows thickened.

“Look!” Mae cried, pointing up.

A piece of the night sky tore itself free.It was roughly the size of a bat, but all wings, with no sign of a head or body.It rocketed to the ground, aiming straight for Thomas, who covered himself with one arm while striking out with the other.He repeatedly made contact, but his hand passed through the flapping wings as though they were made of mist, and the creature continued its attack, undaunted.

Dozens of others followed, dropping from the sky in thick undulating clouds.Though no mouths or claws could be seen, they pulled at Thomas’s clothes, hair, and skin, each ripping away a small piece.

“Help me!” Thomas shrieked.

Before anyone could stop her, Mae sprinted to his side and began trying to pull the creatures off.She clutched with wild abandon, but each time came up empty and was soon forced to the ground as several of them turned on her.

Mr. North jumped into the swarm.He grabbed Mae by the waist and dragged her free.

“Here!” he said, handing Mae to Amanda.Though his rescue only took seconds, bloody scratches covered his face and arms.“Take her to Bernard, and stay down.”

Amanda didn’t argue.She threw Mae’s arm over her shoulder, and the two of them ran.

“What are they?” Lester asked, shouting over the noise.

“Wrasps,” said his father.“Without his mother’s charm, they must have been able to find him.”

The cloud around Thomas was now so thick he could barely be seen.

“We have to do something!” said Lester.

“There’s only one thing we can do,” Mr. North said.“We can release him.”

“Then do it!”

Mr. North raised his gloved hand.“Since the accident, I haven’t been able to release a Lingering on my own.I’ll need your help.”

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Lester hesitated.He still didn’t know how he felt about The Light and The Dark, and while Thomas had been wrong, what their war had done to his family was wrong too.

“We can save him from this,” his father said.“It’s either that, or we let the Wrasps have him.Are you with me?”

Lester nodded.

Mr. North quickly showed him where to stand and moved to the other side of the swarm.Watching his father, Lester followed his lead and held his arms out in front of him.

“But I don’t know how,” Lester called.

“Of course you do,” Mr. North said, his eyes already glowing red.“You always have.”

Lester focused on his breath.The tumultuous sound of the Wrasps started to fade, and a calmness enveloped him.The exhaustion in his arms and legs from struggling to hold the rift open lifted, and a warm sensation started at the top of his head.It flowed down over his body, different from what he’d experienced before.There was a cleansing nature to it this time, like he was standing under the shower, hot water washing away a thick layer of grime from an impossibly long day.As the dirt fell, his worries went with it, and he became lighter.He was no longer fighting the heavy gravity of the world but riding it like a current.

A blue wave of energy poured from Lester’s outstretched hands.Instead of burning, it healed his ravaged fingers.Then, it continued on, flowing around Thomas as though he were a rock in a stream.When it connected with Mr. North’s yellow flames, there was a burst of green, and Lester felt his feet leave the ground.Suspended above, he watched the Wrasps throwing themselves at the light.Again and again, they flew into it but bounced off, unable to penetrate.

Free from the attack, Thomas slowly got to his feet.His clothes were torn, and there were dark patches where blood had soaked through.

Lester’s stomach did a funny flip as though he were riding a roller coaster that had droppeddown a steep hill.The light intensified, pushing the Wrasps even farther back, and a bolt of adrenaline raced through him.It was not an unpleasant feeling.

Thomas looked up through the glow and, despite his haggard appearance, winked at Lester.After a quick adjustment to his hair, he lifted an imaginary hat and gave a slight bow.Then, the boy from Salem departed.

Back on the ground, Lester stood blinking his eyes.The moon and a few twinkling stars slowly came into view, and he was relieved to spot his father talking with Bernard.His brother was sitting up, looking confused.

“Is he gone?” Amanda asked, stepping beside Lester.

“He is.”

Lester put his arm around her, and she laid her head on his shoulder.The night was still.Off in the distance, an owl hooted among the trees.

The Wrasps had returned to wherever it was they’d come from.The only remaining evidence that anything out of the ordinary had happened on the baseball diamond that night was a perfect circle of fresh grass.Its bright green color standing in defiance of the season.

“There’s no ash,” Amanda said, scanning the ground.

It was true.Where other Lingering had left black scorch marks and a pile of white ash, Thomas had disappeared without a trace.

“Where’s Mae?” Lester asked.

Amanda pointed, and he walked to the far side of the circle, where Mae sat on her knees.Lester squatted down beside her.

“I am so sorry, Lester,” Mae said, her cheeks shiny and wet.She was holding something in her hands, rubbing the snow from it with shaking fingers.“I was wrong.I wanted vengeance.But what happened — almost happened — to Thomas didn’t make me feel better.Instead, it was like reliving my parents’ deaths all over again.”

Lester helped her to her feet.“We were all wrong, Mae, about a lot of things.”

“But I lied to you and Amanda.I used you to get what I wanted.”

“And we never would have come as far as we did without your help.”

“You’re not mad?”

“Mae, you and Amanda are my closest friends.Heck, you’re my only friends.I’m not ready to let that go over a few mistakes.Anyway, if I did, who would tell me about the latest Yeti sightings?”

Mae pocketed Thomas’s pendant and gave a weak smile.“Turns out it was a llama.”

Lester was still laughing as they made their way through the thick reeds of the marsh and back to town.