Exit 509. Crow Agency 1 Mile.

They streaked through the reservation well above the speed limit at about noon, but the clouds were now thick and roiling overhead. Wind swept through the plains and tugged at the car. A low concrete building, topped by a blue roof, appeared to their left. The gray walls were covered in graffiti. Nicole let up on the gas and they slowed to a more reasonable clip. “Reservation police station is coming right up. Can’t really afford to get pulled over right now.”

“Amazed we haven’t been so far.”

“Quit worrying, I can literally see speed traps from over the horizon.”

Seth rolled his eyes. “Good point.”

Nicole took Exit 509 off the highway, hooking a left under the highway bridge towards the main town. The buildings were old here. A Conoco gas station stood on the left and a pink-walled laundromat with a name Seth couldn’t begin to pronounce on the right. Nicole drove carefully now, past a post office, past a small park on the left. People on the streets eyed their expensive ride with what Seth could only describe as suspicion.

They came to a fork, the right-hand side curving away to the countryside, the left curving north. Nicole turned north.

“Following the aura?”

“It’s near, but not right now.” Nicole pulled to a stop in front of what looked like a small row of storage units, their faded sky-blue doors portals to unwanted memories of yesteryear. “Gotta find a friend first.”

“Like Ben?”

“Ben would probably take it as an insult if I said yes.”

Nicole hopped out of the car and Seth followed, hearing it lock behind them. She crossed the street without looking, it was empty and devoid of life currently. The building that awaited them crouched in the shade of several trees around its fair-sized perimeter. The two-storied white building had a mustard-yellow strip around it at ground level, and a scattering of window AC units, half of them rusty and for all appearances out of commission. The sign out front said Little Bighorn College Student Union Building.

Nicole walked right in the front door like it was her own house, and Seth followed, cautious.

In the lobby, a scattering of students--all distinctly Native American in their heritage--sat around. Some were in groups, others were alone with studying materials. Nicole walked up to one girl, a darker beauty with high cheekbones and hair that seemed even darker than Nicole’s. The girl was intently writing on a Chromebook atop a small desk.

Nicole cleared her throat.

“Minute.”

Nicole crossed her arms and tapped her foot.

“Okay, bit-” The girl’s face lit up in a winsome smile. “Nicole!” She closed her laptop and stood up to hug Nicole, lifting her clear off the ground. She was tall, almost as tall as Seth. “And who is this you’ve brought with you?”

Nicole almost giggled. “Sophia, this is Seth.”

She extended a hand. “Pleased to meet you, Seth.”

He shook it. “Likewise.”

“Is he…”

Nicole nodded and Sophia raised her eyebrows. “Exciting, you kept one alive this time.”

Nicole’s nostrils flared.

“I’m kidding,” said Sophia.

“There’s one here.”

“Oh?” Sophia looked completely shocked. “Here here?”

“Yes, Sophia.”

“You’re not just sensing…” She looked around the lobby to see if anyone was paying attention to them. “You-know-what?”

“No,” said Nicole. “I can pick them out easy enough. One’s just up the street actually.”

“Well, that does make it more difficult that he’s here. But are we doing it?”

“We are.”

“When?”

“As soon as I find him.”

Sophia sat back down in her chair. “You know I’m in, Nicole. I’ll be there, just call me when you find him. I don’t want you to have to do this alone if it goes sideways… And I’ll make sure to tell my father there might be federal trouble soon.”

Nicole raised her chin a little. “I never said-”

“Please. Those feds follow you like wasps after a kid who’s kicked their nest.” She paused. “That’s you. You’re the kid. You kicked their nest.”

“I get it,” said Nicole.

“I know. Just call me. You need allies in this.”

“Thank you.” Nicole turned and walked towards the building exit. Seth followed, noting Sophia’s eyes lingering on him as he left. They emerged into the windy streets again, the cloud still moving overhead, gray and laden with hours and hours of rain. Nicole sent a text as they walked but Seth couldn’t see who it was to.

He spoke when they got back into the car. “How do you know her?”

“Ran into her a few times looking for one like you. Hunter-33 got to them before I even got close. She has a gift, like Ben, but uses it in a more… traditional way. She’s good at what she does, though, and that’s why I want her along when we close in on the guy.”

“Guy? I thought you said you didn’t know if it was a guy or girl.”

She shrugged. “Figure of speech.” She reversed the car onto the street and drove south back the way they came. “I think they’re further afield than town. Keep your eyes split for someone all alone, I can’t feel any auras diffracting theirs right now. Nicole pulled a U-turn at the fork in the road, taking them out west into the country of the Crow Reservation.

They drove along Highway 212 for a while, the rolling plains beginning to glisten with the initial soft downfall of rain. Hills and small valleys sped by, the country devoid of life in the face of the coming storm. It was beautiful, but it felt haunted. Seth could almost smell the ages of memory here. It felt like a final bastion of something, though he didn’t know what. It felt like the roots of decay were reaching in and in only a matter of decades, this would all be gone.

“Here.” Nicole turned left down a gravel road, reducing her speed again. “He’s one hundred percent this way.”

“Them.”

“Right.”

The road twisted and turned, wrapping around hills and dipping through valleys Seth knew for sure were flooding hazards. He wondered if they’d be able to get back while the storm continued. The rain got heavier as they went, their circle of visibility shrinking like a burning paper.

“This is it.” Nicole pulled the car to a stop and put it in park. Ahead of them yawned a dark cave mouth in the side of a hill. The hairs on the back of Seth’s neck stood up, he didn’t like this.

“What is this place?”

“My guess? He’s getting high in there. Come on.”

Seth followed her out of the car with reluctance. The rain began to soak into his hair and bead off his jacket. Nicole held up her phone and turned on its flashlight. The cave continued back, past the reach of her light. Seth looked around behind them, unable to shake a primal feeling of fear undercutting his senses.

Nicole walked into the cave, leaving Seth out in the rain. “Fuck,” he whispered. He followed her.

The cave was big enough he didn’t have to stoop, and the more he looked at it, the more suspicious he got of the lack of stalactites and stalagmites. The walls were smooth, too, and the floor… The floor was flat. Seth swallowed as he watched her move ahead into the darkness, revealing more and more of the cave. He looked back. The entrance grew smaller. His instincts told him to run, but he couldn’t leave Nicole. He’d promised he’d help her, and there could be some danger in here. Hell, the person they were trying to rescue could be a danger himself.

Nicole took a sharp left and then a sharp right turn. After that, the tunnel began sloping down. Gently, but down nonetheless. The entrance was out of sight now and hungry darkness clawed at Seth from behind. Nicole suddenly turned out her light and hissed at him. “Seth, against the wall. Now!”

Seth pressed himself to the left and got low, his night vision completely useless even if a small amount of light could get here from the entrance.

An ice-cold hand touched the side of his neck and he went limp.

Seth crashed into the hard stone floor, unable to move anything, his jaw slack, a puddle of drool rapidly forming. His mind went into full panic mode as something gripped him by the back of his jacket collar and began dragging him down. Where was Nicole? What was going on? He couldn’t see anything, nothing at all, only feel something very, very strong hauling him down the tunnel.

The dragging only continued for half a minute, short enough for the panic to still be fresh and raw. Whatever it was threw him on his side. He heard a click and a light turned on behind him.

In front of Seth was a stone altar, an inverted pentagram upon it. He was in the room from his dream.