“Woah!” Brian yelled in surprise. “What are you doing?”

“What do you think he’s doing?” May asked dryly.

“Oh. I guess raccoons are on the menu, then,” Brian said, squinting into the dark in an effort to see if Noah had successfully caught the thing.

A short, high-pitched squeal told him all he needed to know, and he grimaced.

Sophie finally turned the light onto Noah. He was hunched over, his back to them and the raccoon clutched in his hands. The creature was not struggling, probably because it was missing a large part of its neck.

“Noah?” Brian asked.

His friend didn’t even glance at him. He took another bite and continued chewing.

“Well, if this works out, it looks like we’ve found something edible besides people,” Sophie said hopefully.

Brian stepped towards Noah, but Leah put a hand on his shoulder. “Maybe let him finish first,” she said.

They watched as Noah slowly devoured the animal and did their best to tune out the sounds that the process produced. Brian found himself glad that his friend was turned away from them, hiding the worst of the details.

“This is insane,” Leah muttered. “What kind of sickness makes people act like this?”

“I”m just glad it was a raccoon and not a random guy taking a walk,” Brian said.

At long last Noah polished off the last of the raccoon, or at least what of it he seemed interested in eating. Bits and pieces of bones and fur lay discarded at his feet. He stood there for a moment longer, licking his fingers.

“You, uh, feeling better now?” Brian asked.

Noah turned back to them with a face covered in blood. They all quickly took a step back, but he just smiled slightly and nodded. “A bit better, yeah. It’s not the ideal meal, but it works.”

“If you say so,” Brian said.

“You’ve got some of it on your shirt there,” Leah pointed out. “Well, it’s everywhere, actually.”

“Hmm?” Noah looked down and scowled. The entire front of his shirt was painted red and clung damply to his chest. He held his hands up a little, seeming unsure what to do.

“Here,” Sophie sighed, teasing out a clean shirt from the bundle of clothes Noah had packed and holding it out to him at arm's length. “I definitely do not want to show up to my parent’s house with you wearing that.”

Noah pulled the bloodstained shirt off and used the relatively clean backside of the garment to wipe the blood off his legs, arms, and face. He then balled it up and threw it into the darkness of the woods.

“Thanks,” he said gratefully, taking the fresh shirt from Sophie and pulling it on. It hung loosely on his gaunt frame.

“Fantastic, now you only look like a sick and starving guy on the brink of death, and not one who’s also a murder victim,” Leah said.

Noah frowned at her. “What?”

She squinted at him appraisingly. “It’s not as bad not as it was a few moments ago. I mean, it’s a lot less likely that someone would call a health center immediately upon seeing you out and about. Though I would’ve thought you’d have filled out a little after eating a whole raccoon.”

“A person would have been better,” Noah said casually. “An animal isn’t as compatible.”

“Compatible?” May asked, glancing over with a strange expression.

Noah paused and scratched his neck. “I don’t know why I phrased it that way. The raccoon was like… a junk food snack. It might have been satisfying at that moment, but it’s not exactly a good meal.”

“Great, we’re back to eating people,” Sophie sighed.

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“It’s not all bad,” Noah said. “I can walk on my own now. That’s an improvement.”

“If you can walk, you can carry your own stuff,” Sophie said. She threw his bundle at him and he somehow reacted in time to catch it. “Also, should I be worried about letting you near my family? Are you going to be able to control yourself?”

Noah briefly closed his eyes. “Yeah. It might be a little uncomfortable, but I won’t- I won’t do anything.”

She looked intently at him, trying to gauge if he was just trying to convince himself he would be fine. “Well, if they start to look too tasty, get out of there, okay?”

Noah nodded. He kicked a pebble along the side of the road. “I can’t believe this is even something I have to worry about now,” he muttered. “This is ridiculous.”

“Tell me about it,” Brian agreed. “People are going to freak out when they start hearing about this. It’s completely scary.”

They walked in silence for a few minutes until May eventually looked up worriedly. “If the school tries to track us down, is it really such a good idea for us to be somewhere so obvious? They’re bound to check if we have any family in the area.”

“They’re not the freaking FBI,” Sophie said. “But I guess I see your point. I only wanted to pay them a short visit anyway. It would be irresponsible for us to stick around long, especially with Noah here who’s one stubbed toe away from losing his mind.” She ran a hand through her hair and sighed. “It’s probably a mistake to go there at all. I don’t care, though. I want to see them one more time before the Wager hits. Partly in case it really does take me out, but also because I’m pretty sure the dust sickness will keep me alive. I want them to see that they worried their little heads off for nothing.”

“We don’t have to come in,” May offered. “I don’t mind staying outside while you visit them.”

Sophie considered that. “That might actually work out.”

Leah quickly shook her head. “If you’re worried about your parents’ safety, I don’t think you should be alone with them. It would be safer if we’re all there so we can help control the situation if anyone somehow gets injured. I don’t know how much you plan on telling them, but even if you’re completely open about everything, they won’t be prepared to defend themselves against you suddenly trying to eat them if worst comes to worst.”

“If there are more of us in the house, there’s a higher chance of something going wrong,” Sophie said slowly.

“Yeah, but if you’re on your own, the consequences of an accident would be worse,” Leah said. “Do whatever you want, though. There’s going to be some danger involved no matter what.”

Sophie shook her head. “I don’t know now. I’ll see what the best option feels like once we get there. They might not even be home.”

“Call them,” Noah suggested.

“I would, but they haven’t been answering my calls for the past twenty-four hours.” Sophie clenched her fists. "They think if they stick their heads in the sand that everything will be fine.”

“Uh, are you sure they’ll want to see you tonight?” Brian interjected.

Sophie growled. “Oh, I’m sure they won’t, but I don’t care. I want to see them, so they’re gonna have to face me whether they like it or not.”

“Alright then,” he said, clasping his hands behind his back. “I’m not one to intervene in family matters.”

Despite her words, a nervous air came over Sophie as they continued walking. They reached an intersection and turned right. The first few houses began appearing along the road, along with the occasional welcome streetlight.

May wrapped her arm around her friend. “It’ll be okay. Once they see you they’ll be glad you visited them,” she said softly. “They’re just scared that they’ll lose you, and they don’t know how to deal with their fear.”

Sophie bobbed her head quickly. “Yeah, I know. Thanks.”

“How far did you say we have to walk?” Noah grumbled. “We’ve gone fifteen miles already.”

“We’ve walked around two miles,” Sophie said with a cross look. “The house is a few streets away yet.”

“We should have taken a car,” Noah said.

Sophie rolled her eyes.

Despite Noah’s complaints, it wasn’t long before Sophie stopped in front of a small two-story tudor house. There were two cars parked on the steeply slanted driveway.

They hung back as Sophie began trudging up to the house, but she beckoned them after her. “I think I’d like you to stick with me, if you don’t mind. I know this is a really weird situation. You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

“We don’t mind,” May was quick to assure her.

“We don’t?” Brian said under his breath, causing Leah to elbow him. They followed Sophie to the doorstep.

“They might be asleep,” Sophie said anxiously.

“We can tap their bedroom window,” Noah suggested.

Sophie gave him a weird look. “Or we could knock on the front door first like normal people.”

She took a deep breath and did just that, rapping quickly against the wood.

“Louder,” Leah said.

Sophie hammered on the door and then kicked it with a boot for good measure.

“Woah, we don’t want them to think someone’s trying to break in,” Leah said quickly. She glanced sideways. “Your parents don’t own firearms, do they?”

Sophie let out a nervous laugh. “No, last I checked.”

She lifted her hand to knock again, but May grabbed her arm. “Listen, they’re coming.”

They all stopped and went silent. Footsteps slowly approached the door and a moment later the face of a middle-aged man appeared in the small glass window of the door. He blinked owlishly at the five of them standing on his doorstep. Then his gaze focused on his daughter and his mouth fell open.