Riley parked out front Faith’s house, then they sat in silence.

“Do you want to come inside?” Faith asked, the words slipping out. “For coffee?”

Riley didn’t respond for a moment, then he nodded. “Thank you.”

The two of them went inside and Faith made coffee. There was no sign of messengers, but it was oddly cold in the house. The two drank the coffee in silence, standing in the kitchen.

“Can I borrow your phone?” Riley asked.

Faith nodded. “It’s on the desk.”

Riley called someone, but then he sighed and set the phone down. Whoever it was, they must not have answered. He called another and set the phone down again. “Two of the others aren’t answering their phones.”

A creak came from the hall and Faith looked at it sharply. A messenger crept out of the gloom. Riley rejoined Faith in the kitchen. Another messenger joined the first, also from the hall. Riley and Faith ran toward the front door. The messengers ran after the two of them, but they didn’t follow past the door. Faith and Riley got back in Riley’s car and he pulled away from the curb quickly.

Faith suppressed a shiver. Was anywhere safe anymore? Even out of Silverfield there had been messengers. Now her house wasn’t safe either, not that it had been before, but it was morning. Messengers hadn’t shown up during the day before, but now it had happened twice.

“You can stay with me,” Riley said. “If messengers are showing up during the day, then nowhere is safe.”

“Thank you,” Faith said.

He parked in the driveway of his house. The two of them went inside.

“Did they attack during the day ten years ago?” Faith asked.

“No,” he said. “Ninivus must be closer to waking up.”

It wasn’t long before night came. Riley went through his notes and Faith sat and watched. When they were both too tired to stay awake any longer, he insisted she take the bed. He slept on the floor. Faith felt uncomfortable and out of place in the bed, his bed, but she hadn’t been able to change his mind. Despite this, she slept better than she had in a while.

Riley made more calls the next morning. He came back from the kitchen with two cups of coffee and sat, handing Faith one of them. “Roy Priddle answered his phone.” He frowned. “Did Collin ever mention him? He and Roy were close.”

“He didn’t,” Faith said.

“I’m sorry. I’m sure Collin had his reasons… Or maybe he didn’t. I don’t know.” Now he looked uncomfortable. “Roy said Orva Shroll, one of the others, is dead. She drowned in her apartment a few days ago, in the living room. He agreed a messenger likely did it. He thought Eliza was missing.”

“How many of you are there?” Faith asked.

“Five. One for each place with a sleeping being,” Riley said. “Collin watched Gull Bay. We think there are only four beings, but there’s something at sea past Gull Bay. We don’t know if it is another being, or something else. Eliza wasn’t in Baylis before, so she must have moved there recently. Hew Farrant is the other.” He frowned. “Hew came here ten years ago. He’s the reason I know about all of this…” He shook his head. “I’m sure he’s fine. He was always going places before and not telling anyone. Roy’s trying to contact him.”

“Eliza had the same mark as Destiny and Willet,” Faith said. “The marks have to mean something.”

Riley stared at his notes for a long moment, then shook his head slowly. “I haven’t found anything on the marks in any of these notes.” He stood. “I’ll call Roy again, see if he’s found Hew.” He disappeared into the kitchen.

Faith sat there in the gloom. The curtains had been closed partway, but the candle on the table wasn’t lit. She stared at the piles of folders, papers, and books. None of them mentioned those marks? When had this all begun?

Riley came back a moment later, frowning deeply. He looked through the folders and pages of notes again for a moment. “Roy last saw Hew at his house in Sills. He moved there recently. Roy gave me the address, the same one that’s on this note from Collin’s folder.” He looked over the note for a moment. “Collin and Hew weren’t close as far as I know, but maybe the two of them found something about Sky and Sea.” He set the note back on the stack. “We may have to go there.”

“When do we leave?” Faith asked.

Riley smiled. “Right now.” He frowned a little. “We should stop by the store first and get you some clothes.”

Faith couldn’t remember the last time she’d showered. The thought of going home to get clothes sent a chill through her. Would there be messengers waiting there? She and Riley walked to the store together. Faith didn’t see Mr. Trindle. She found some clothes, then realized she had no wallet. That was back at the house too.

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“I’ll pay for them,” Riley said.

“I’ll pay you back later,” Faith said, feeling her face turn red.

He smiled but said nothing.

They went back to Riley’s house and Faith showered and put clean clothes on. Then they left for Sills. It was almost noon when they left. An hour and forty minutes later, they reached the small town of Sills. There were a few trees out there, but Faith could see the lake from town. The lake was much smaller than Gray Lake, but the water was just as still. Riley parked at the curb outside a gray paneled house and he and Faith got out.

The house looked worse the closer they got. The paint was peeling and there were dead spots in the yard. Riley knocked on the peeling, grayish door. There was a badly patched hole where the doorbell should be. The two of them stood there awhile, but there was no answer. He knocked again. Still no answer.

Faith glanced through the window next to the door. “There’s no furniture.”

Riley looked through the window and sighed. “Maybe he moved again.” He turned the knob and the door opened.

“Why would he leave it unlocked?” Faith asked.

Riley looked worried. “I’m not sure.”

The two of them went inside to the empty living room. The floor was dusty, but it was a thin layer of dust. Maybe Hew had left recently. Riley glanced into the bedroom, then he went inside. Faith followed. The closet door stood open a crack. Inside, it was as empty as the rest of the house. Faith caught sight of something at the back wall, leaning against it and almost blending in. A folder. Riley picked it up and opened it. A handwritten note sat on top of the other papers.

Riley read in silence before looking through the other papers. A map, or something similar to a map. More pages of notes. He closed the folder. “Hew knew I would come here and find this. He knew something was up with Eliza and didn’t know if he could trust her or the others with what he found.”

“What did he find?” Faith asked.

“The note says he and Collin found out where Sky and Sea was, but that it’s difficult to get there,” Riley said. “The map was confusing. He and Collin believed Sky and Sea knew how to keep the beings asleep. Because they’d done it for a long time.”

Faith thought about this. “That makes sense. Someone had to have kept them asleep if they haven’t woken up before now.”

Riley nodded. “It won’t be easy to find the place, but maybe that’s where Hew’s gone.”

The floor creaked in the other room. A chill ran through Faith. Was it Hew? A messenger? Riley glanced around the corner of the door and pulled back quickly.

“Messenger?” Faith whispered.

Riley nodded. “In the kitchen.”

Something dark and wet slid down the back wall of the bedroom. Other messengers moved along the ceiling. Faith and Riley ran from the room. There were three messengers coming out of the kitchen, walking toward Faith and Riley. The two of them ran from the house and got back in Riley’s car. He pulled away from the curb quickly, but no messengers had followed.

“Could Ninivus have sent them all the way from Silverfield?” Faith asked.

Riley was driving back through Sills. “I don’t know. We’re going to the lake. If that being is waking up too, the messengers could have come from there.” His brows furrowed. “I don’t know if we’ll see it during the day.” He parked in the dirt by the lake at the edge of Sills.

The two of them got out of the car and headed toward the still water, stopping a ways back from the edge. The water didn’t move. Not even a ripple. It was as unnaturally still as Gray Lake had been during the day. There was no way to tell if the thing sleeping in the depths was waking up. Faith was about to turn away when a ripple spread through the water from the center of the lake. Another came, then nothing more.

“It could be waking up,” Riley said. “I think it would have to be more awake to send messengers, but we don’t know what the lake looks like at night.” He turned away. “It’s not safe to wait here until night. We should get back to Silverfield.”

They went back to the car. Faith glanced back at the lake once, but the water remained still. Riley said nothing on the way back to Silverfield and neither did she. If the being in that lake hadn’t sent the messengers, then maybe Ninivus had. But how far could the messengers go from Ninivus? Either he had sent them or another being was waking up.

Back at Riley’s house, the two of them ate a late lunch of sandwiches. Still neither of them spoke. After that, Riley looked over the map and notes from Hew, then went into the kitchen. Maybe he was calling Roy. He came back a short while later and sat back at the table.

“Roy wants to see the folder,” Riley said. “I trust him and he might be able to help us.” He shivered a little. “Right now, he’s the only of the others who can help us. Until we find out where Hew is. We’ll leave in the morning.”

Faith hesitated. “Are you alright? After…Eliza.”

Riley didn’t respond at first, but then he nodded. “I’ll be fine. The messengers have never gone after so many people before. Mr. Tetley, Eliza, Orva. I just…” He shook his head.

“We’ll find a way to stop Ninivus,” Faith said, uncertain they would even as she said it. She tried to ignore that.

Riley nodded slowly. “There could be others waking up.” He looked at her. “Maybe Roy can make more sense of this map. It seems like Sky and Sea is our best chance of finding out how to stop these beings from waking up. They had to have kept them asleep somehow. Maybe Hew will be there.”

“Maybe he’ll know what Collin found at sea,” Faith said. “And maybe Sky and Sea can tell us more about these beings and what might have happened to Suzie.”

That night, Faith barely slept. What would they find at Roy’s house? Would he know what the map meant? So far Ninivus, and any others like him waking up, were always a step ahead. The beings had allies and maybe not just the messengers. Someone had to be watching for Ninivus to know what Faith and Riley were doing and who knew things about him. How else had he known about Mr. Tetley?

And what did those marks mean? Eliza had one and had been working with one of the beings, even though she hadn’t been willing. Destiny and Sheriff Willet had one. Did that mean Destiny and the sheriff were working with Ninivus? That troubling thought followed Faith into a light, restless sleep. She and Riley left for Billen early the next morning. Billen was two hours north of Baylis. Like Gull Bay, it was a city by the sea.