A demonic red glow lit up the gap between the door and its frame all of a sudden.

“We need to find him.” Satara backed away from it, towards edge of the roof. The question in Jason's stare prodded her. “Sinastar. He said he wouldn't be gone long, right? He might be somewhere close by.”

The ground far below called out to her again but she ignored its cajoling cries, searching for a trace of her alleged cousin's long coat and hair in the trickle of people walking past the flats.

“You check –” She paused mid sentence. Jason had his mobile phone pressed to his ear. “What're you –?”

“Calling him.” He smiled shakily and jumped as a metallic crunch shook the floor beneath them. An irregular bump appeared in the metal door and the relief on his face balanced out the alarm that had flooded her insides. “Uh – hi. It's me.”

Satara walked towards him and leaned closer to the phone but the door groaned as another two lumps were punched out of it and it was a little hard hear anything, let alone focus.

“Yeah, no. We've got a bit of an issue here.” Another blow knocked the top right corner of door outwards and revealed a plume of flames and smoke. Jason started speaking faster. “There's a – We're stuck on the roof and there's this – uh – this fire thing trying to kill us.”

Satara stepped sideways and blocked the door from his sight. That thing's after me. Nothing's going to happen to him because of that. The only things on the roof were several old crates, a pile of spare granite bricks, and a length of cord that might have been a severed hose pipe. Nothing they could use against the distinctly paranormal being punching through the metal door.

“What? Off the roof.” Jason shook his head at her, brows distorted. “Wait, we're trying not to die here, you know?”

He was silent for a moment before capturing the phone between his ear and shoulder in a way she had never been able to manage. He pulled up his sleeve and looked at his wrist. A light blue mark glowed on his skin. Unnatural. Oddly beautiful.

“Yeah, it's still there. I just have to touch it and point it at that thing?” Sinastar apparently confirmed his belief on the other end of the line. “Okay, but then what?”

When did you get that, Jayce? And his number? While I was asleep? I thought you didn't trust him. An all mighty crash distracted her from her acidic thoughts. The battered door sizzled on the floor between them and the monster burned in the doorway. She dropped into her fighting stance, muscles straining against the pose like a chorus of discouraging whispers, and knew it was pointless. Saytarnia was a human and I couldn't do anything to her. I know that but still. It's not like I can just stand here and let it kill us.

Jason reached over her shoulders from behind and for a moment she thought he was saying goodbye with an uncharacteristic but relatively understandable embrace.

“Apparently this'll help.” From the full blooded doubt in his tone, she guessed Jason must have ended the call at some point. He clasped his forearm in front of her and his breaths quivered in her ear. “Sinastar says he's coming but – Argh!”

The monstrosity stepped out onto the roof and a tongue of blue fire shot from Jason's inner wrist to greet it, piercing its centre like a blade. Jason stepped back, forcing her to move with him, as the unnatural flame recoiled from its initial target. They both tensed up before it spread out in front of them in a wide shield-like shape. The monster swayed beyond the crackling veil but it hadn't fallen. Satara leaned forward in anticipation and felt Jason mirror the movement at her back as the danger staggered towards them.

It crashed against the flickering blue shield like a hellish bug on the windscreen of a car and they jumped even though they had expected the impact. Its face, partially obscured by both orange and blue flames, was skeletal and grey brown in colour as if it had been burned and left underground for decades. It hissed in frustration and agony, breaking the disconcerting silence. Satara's heart pounded painfully and the urge to run tore her apart from the inside out but they were too close to the edge of the roof. A fact Jason had apparently forgotten as he backed away from the monster.

“Wait –!” Her warning came a second too late and she spun to grab him as his foot half slipped off the stone edge.

“Crap!” The hold on his wrist broke as he floundered and the barrier protecting them from the creature vanished as if it had never existed in the first place.

They tumbled to their knees and forgot to breathe as the monster shrieked above them. It raised triumphant, weakly smouldering arms, and a dream – a memory – shot like electric through her veins. Directing the movement of her muscles before she could fully register what was happening.

“No matter how much you grow, there will almost always be someone bigger or stronger than you,” said Saytarnia. “Even once you've become the best version of yourself. There's nothing you can do about that.”

Heavy black garments and hardened wrist guards. The courtyard outside their house was empty except for them. Mother and father didn't know about their secret training sessions. As far as they were concerned, she was too young to learn these things and didn't need to learn them. But her sister's eyes were on her and she was old enough to appreciate the privilege even if she couldn't fully understand the lesson.

“But almost everyone has a weakness and eventually they will reveal it. Or you will find it yourself. And when you do –” Saytarnia placed a hand against a small hole in the trunk of a tall sakura tree and dropped low, patting her chest with her other hand. “– you mustn't hesitate to use it. Strike first and strike hard before they can use your weaknesses against you.”

She drew her fist back and snapped it out again in a controlled blow. The tree creaked and its upper half dropped to the ground like a decapitated opponent, split cleanly at the point where the hole had been. Saytarnia turned to her, brown eyes alight.

“Do that and victory will always stay close to you,” she promised.

“I not weak,” said Satara with a small scowl.

Her sister's low laughter, several years old, reverberated in her head as Satara lunged forward with a determined groan and slammed her palms against the hole left by the arrow of fire Jason had released. The creature's chest caved in beneath her hands and balanced out the jagged pain rippling all down her ribs. She sat back on her heels and supported herself with one scorched hand, pressing the other to her chest.

But the monster didn't fall away as easily as the tree had back then. Instead it descended upon her as if intent on taking her down and she flinched. Another shaft of blue fire flew over her head and buried itself in the creature. The force of the attack dragged its screeching body all the way to the wall beside the doorway and pinned it there.

“Thanks,” she gasped, turning stiffly.

But Jason had frozen in the middle of crawling backwards and was looking at the figure crouched on the roof edge behind them. Sinastar once again wore the potent mask of the man in her dream, holding the elbow of his extended arm to keep it steady, his gaze fixated on the threat and body tuned into the violent atmosphere. The burning blue that encased his palm cooled down as he rose but he kept it pointed at the monster like a gun and helped Jason up with his other hand.

“How the heck did you –?” Her friend's eyes darted between the older guy and the end of the roof.

Probably the same way he made fire come out of your arm, Jayce.

“I'll explain later.” Somehow Sinastar still managed to sound polite despite his interruption. He stopped beside her and held out his hand. “Can you stand?”

She hesitated and rubbed her own against her trouser leg before allowing him to help her up. “Seems like it.”

“Good.” His eyes dropped to her hand in his, brows briefly furrowing, before he transferred his grip to her shoulder. “Because we have to jump.”

The monster roared and cut off her questions with its almost bloodless threat. Sinastar pulled her carefully over to Jason and lowered the hand pointing at the creature. Suddenly the call of the void wasn't as welcoming as it had been. Not when she was about to meet the ground by force.

“Whoa, wait!” Jason jerked his arm away as Sinastar reached for it and looked from him to her as if unsure of what confused him more. The idea of throwing himself off the roof, even with company, or her reluctant resignation to an obviously fatal plan. “Jump? You mean from here?”

“It's better if you close your eyes,” suggested Sinastar, grabbing his upper arm and shifting his grip to hers too.

He yanked them both towards the edge as if he knew better than to give them a chance to resist any further. For half a second, they teetered over the line between solid ground and space and her stomach flipped like a coin she didn't want to land. She considered throwing herself back and dragging both of them with her. But the monster growled behind them and she glanced back just in time to see the blue spear of flame vanish from its middle. It wrenched itself away from the wall and took an unsteady yet furious step in their direction.

She closed her eyes.

“I've got you,” murmured Sinastar and his fingers tightened around her arm.

“Oh fu-” Jason's emphatic hiss of disapproval transformed into a terrified yell as they pitched forward off the edge.

The weight in her chest disappeared and left a whirling emptiness in its place. She instinctively curled towards the one source of stability left. Cold air shot all around her, through her, as they fell and she grabbed the hand attached to her arm as though she were a flag buffeted by the wind. Black and white flashed behind her eyelids but slowly changed to different colours and she wondered what would happen if she passed out.

It was louder than she thought it would be. A barely audible rhythmic thumping drew her attention and she opened one eye. Sinastar was running down the building, cutting through the air like an Olympic swimmer in a pool. His body coiled spring-like and she cringed as he sprang off the vertical surface, barely managing to keep her eye open. The impact she expected didn't come. Instead, the same blue fire formed a rectangle beneath them as soon as their bodies aligned and Sinastar alighted on it soundlessly as if they were all made of feathers.

The shockingly solid surface lowered them to the ground and fizzled out of existence. Satara would have landed on all fours had he not been holding her. Instead she stepped forward shakily and released his arm, trying to remember how to breathe. She leaned sideways but Jason was already grinning at her even as his legs shook beneath him.

“Oh my god, we're alive!” he gasped, his face almost as red as his windswept hair. He wobbled towards her. “Tara, we jumped off a building and we're still alive. Holy crap!”

The monster that had been about to kill them seemed miles away from his mind along with all of the other issues that had stolen the light from his face since yesterday. The smile on her face felt as foreign as the person who had saved them and she didn't have enough oxygen to control it.

“You – Sinastar.” He turned to the other guy who was also smiling faintly at them. “You've got to teach me how to do that.”

You don't realise what you're saying yet, do you? Satara rubbed her arm as Sinastar let go of them in turn and tucked herself into her own arms. A gesture that was slowly becoming a bad habit.

“I intend to,” he replied. “If we have the chance.”

“What do you –?” Jason fell silent and followed his gaze up at the building.

There was no sign of the monster.

“We can't stay here any more.” Sinastar looked at her. “We need to leave town now.”

“But – your stuff is still up there.” She avoided his unspoken question. That's not what I want to say. “We didn't bring it with us.”

Of course we didn't. That's the last thing we were thinking about.

“I know,” he murmured. “I'll get it. But for now we need to let your foster parents know you're safe.”

He held up an envelope, his fingertips glowing blue. What are those? Is he going to post the Langs a letter?

“We need to get this to them but you're injured and they might try to keep you there. And I can't be seen around your house.” He looked at Jason, openly trusting him to get the hint.

“Hell no.” Jason shook his head and backed away. “I told Tara I'm coming with you guys.”

“Jayce, I told you, you can't –”

“I can and I will,” he said. The ferocity of his determination shouldn't have shocked her but it did. “I'll learn how to run down buildings and how to fight. He said he'll teach me.”

He pointed at Sinastar. He didn't say that. She followed the line of his finger and waited for the elder of the three to dissuade him. But Sinastar moved his fingers and suddenly had two envelopes.

“Then you'll need to deliver both of these,” he said and closed his eyes briefly as if her disappointment were a particularly blinding shaft of lightning.

“Okay.” Jason took them from him, completely unguarded, and wrinkled his nose at her as if he were six instead of sixteen. “I'm coming so neh!”

He started to walk away, froze, and spun around to face them again. “How do I know you're not gonna leave while I'm gone?”

“I'll get my things from the room.” Sinastar pointed upwards. “And check on the … creature. We'll wait for you here.”

Jason squinted at them suspiciously and for a long moment she was sure he'd change his mind.

“I'm trusting you guys.” He pointed at them in turn like a father about to leave his two children home alone. “You better be here when I get back.”

He shook out his shoulders and legs as he left and glanced back, pointing at them a final time from an opening in the mental fence surrounding the building. He jogged away with the letters in his hand and Satara made some quick calculations in her head. She counted to ten and then to fifteen just in case but Jason didn't come back.

“Okay, let's go.” She turned to Sinastar, halted by the genuine shock that crossed his face.

“I can go up alone.” He knew what she meant.

“Then you need to hurry.” The wall of the flats called to her, pillow-like after a long day. “He's fast and I'm pretty sure his place is closer than mine.”

“You want to leave him behind?” He wiped sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand.

“Of course.” She straightened up as much as her ribs would allow.

“He … won't appreciate being left behind.” A thin metal rod pierced his soft tone.

“I know. But I can deal with him being upset and alive.” The grime of the last few days weighed her down like heavy but useless armour along her skin. A new reality she couldn't escape and one Jason didn't need to suffer through. Not for her sake.

“I said I'd protect you both. From anything.” He waved a hand towards the roof. “I haven't changed my mind.”

“But what if you can't?” What if something worse than that monster turns up before I can learn to fight the way you do? What if that letter you wrote to his family is the only thing they have left to remember him by and he doesn't even know what it says?

“I'll teach both of you what I can. And until then I'll protect you with everything I know and everything I have.” He held out a hand as if he had been about to touch her brow but then curled his fingers into a fist. “Three can surpass two.”

Is that a quote? Am I supposed to know where it's from? She sighed to herself when Sinastar continued to hold out his fist, her hands balling at her sides. An uncompromising assurance. A promise she wasn't sure he would keep. Sure, he did just run up and down a building to save us from a monster. And he's done more than enough to convince me to trust him. Is that why I don't want to trust him?

“If it comes down to it, Jayce's going to be the one who survives.” She tapped her knuckles quickly against his. “So don't blame me if your journey here ends up being a waste of time.”

“I won't.” He gestured towards an upturned fridge close by. “You can sit there. It won't take me long to get everything from the room.”

She nodded and followed his suggestion. He headed back into the building, turning a corner and leaving her sight. She was left completely alone for the second time in two days. Running away from them like this with only a letter. Is that selfish? Ungrateful? She rested her elbows on her thighs and leaned forward. Her back ached. It's not like I have a choice right now. My phone's stuck in my locker. And he's right. Even if I go back and try to explain, they'll be obliged to try and stop me.

The creature didn't reappear though she half expected to see its head and claws appear over the edge of the roof. If I go back and another one of those things follows me – She rubbed her brow and looked towards the gap in the fence. I could run somewhere else. On my own. I don't need to follow Sinastar, do I? That way, Sinastar can carry on being noble and nice and Jayce can stay safe with his family.

She took a deep breath and her insides twinged as if to remind her of how terrible an idea that was.

It would be suicide. I can't do it when I'm like this. She breathed out softly and let her body rest as much as it could. For now, I'll just have to wait.

<><><><><>

Jason was out of breath but his eyes lit up as they found hers. He hurried over to the fridge and smiled first at her and then Sinastar with a sincerity she wouldn't have believed possible several hours ago.

“That didn't take too long,” said Sinastar as she stood up beside him. “You were really fast.”

“I ran a lot when I was a kid.” He chuckled breathlessly at an inside joke and glanced sideways at her. “'Specially when I was in high school.”

She snorted softly under her breath and patted the debris off the back of her clothes, wishing he hadn't come back. Wishing she didn't feel so relieved that he had. “Should we go?”

Sinastar nodded and lead the way to a break in the fence parallel to the wall he had run down. Despite the weightless sensation still fresh in her cells, the experience didn't seem possible. But as they walked through the gap in the fence, she noticed its broken chain links were blackened and looked like they had been melted with a huge flamethrower.

Sinastar had both broken her reality and solidified it.

She hadn't been responsible for the death of the Cunninghams. She wasn't a child murderer. She hadn't made up an imaginary culprit and named her Saytarnia. Power existed in ways she had wanted to be possible since she was a child.

But it also meant the danger she had sensed for years was real and would always extend to those around her. The constant feeling of being misplaced, of walking on the rim of a world she wasn't familiar with, was justified. She wasn't from England nor from any other country she knew about. Dormant customs and memories of people she had once known were hidden away in her body and mind.

Do I want to unearth them? Would it make a difference if I did? Sinastar stopped Jason from going in the wrong direction, his grip on the younger guy's sleeve gentle as he pointed the other way. If I remember everything, if I go back to that place, will I end up more like him? Or like Saytarnia?

“Oh ho ho!” Jason guffawed and rushed ahead past Sinastar. He held his hands out over a long, black motorcycle parked hastily on the verge between the fence and the pavement. “Is this yours?”

“It is.” Sinastar slipped the hiking bag from his shoulder and set it on the ground beside the motorbike. He reached over it to pluck a carrier bag nestled in the grass on its concealed side and handed him a grey helmet. “Here.”

“We're gonna ride it out of town? All of us?” Jason was clearly not as phased by the safety hazard as he should have been. He lifted the visor and undid the straps before jamming the helmet on.

“That doesn't seem very –” Sinastar handed her a black helmet after tightening its straps. “– What about you?”

He placed a hand to his ear and blue fire swarmed around his head. It settled into the shape of a helmet, leaving a visor-shaped space across his eyes.

“This will do for now,” he said. He touched his backpack and covered it with a thin layer of the same substance. “Jason, can you carry this for me?”

“... Okay.” Jason took the offered bag and grunted, lifting it repeatedly. “'The heck? It's not heavy at all?”

“I'll teach you how to do that too.” Sinastar's eyes glittered and he slid a leg over the motorcycle, arranging his coat until it was tucked snugly around him. He turned to her and placed a hand on the seat behind him. “Satara, can you sit in the middle? He's going to need space for the bag.”

Oh no … She ignored the potential awkwardness and how he offered his hand to support her as she climbed onto the bike, moving her grip from his sleeve to the back of his jacket. Jason swung onto it after her and everything worsened as his weight pressed her into Sinastar's back.

“It's – uh – a bit of a squeeze, huh?” Jason didn't sound as reverent as he had seconds ago.

“I'm sorry. It's only until we reach our next stop.” Sinastar looked around and then extended a hand over his shoulder, tapping one of the fists she had curled into the shoulders of his jacket. “You should hold on properly. Clothes can rip.”

“Okay.” Just pretend it's a fight and you're tackling him. She closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around his middle, arching her back. After a second, Jason's hands tickled her elbows.

“Uh, Tara, can I –?” A blush coloured his voice.

“Yeah. Just – not so tight, okay?” She swallowed as his hands wound around her and knotted at the centre of her waist.

“That okay?” Jason gulped. “I don't want to hurt your ch – you.”

“It's fine.” Sinastar touched her hand again and she almost asked him what she was doing wrong now. A blue flare rushed over her, through her, and their surroundings wavered as if she were seeing them from inside a huge bubble. “What the –?”

“Three people on a bike would only draw attention,” he said. “Now everyone will only see me.”

“That's hella cool,” remarked Jason in the ensuing silence.

Sinastar made a noise that might have been a laugh and adjusted his grip on the handlebars. “Let's go. Hold on tight.”

The engine hummed and then they were moving off the verge, slipping onto the road like a fish into water. Satara looked back at the building and thought she saw someone standing on top of it. But then the motorcycle sped up and took them away from the town she had never called home.

<><><><><>

On the roof of the building they had just left, a tall, stern faced being turned towards the creature crumpled halfway between the doorway and the edge. A small hole pierced its centre and larva trickled out, melting the roof with each drop. He waved a hand and an inky black portal appeared beneath it. Hissing softly, the creature sunk into its depths without resisting. The fire in its eyes went out before the portal closed over its head and vanished.

The stranger turned back to watch the motorcycle as it headed for the next town and pulled a phone out of his pocket. He pressed a button and grimaced as the rubber liquefied a little beneath his thumb. He held the device close to his mouth as it started ringing and the person on the other end answered at once.

“They're headed your way,” he said, shifting his thumb to the hang up button.

“You sound grumpy, handsome. What happened?” The receiver of the call laughed. Knowing. Airy. “Did you melt your phone again?”

“That one can fight back,” he growled. “Don't underestimate him.”

“Been there. Done that.” A smirk slithered around the other person's voice. “Not interested in doing it again. But thanks for caring, gorgeous.”

He hung up and remembered how the girl had lashed out at the creature with her bare hands.

“It doesn't mean you won't,” he muttered, backing off from the edge and disappearing mid-step.

<><><><><>

Okay. Satara closed her eyes. Her hair flapped in the stream of wind rolling over the bike. Her clothes billowed out and the cold only bearable because of the two bodies cushioning her from in front and behind. I'll admit it. Motorbikes are cool. Really, really cool.

Jason seemed to think so too. He had been whooping for the last five minutes and trying to pump his fist in the air without falling off. Her elbows jerked down more than once every time his grip loosened around her and if he hadn't been her one and only friend she would have headbutted him by now.

“Whoooooo!” Jason's knees tightened on either side of the motorcycle, squeezing her thighs, as he tried to raise both hands.

“Jayce!” she hissed, grabbing his wrist as his body fell away from hers. “He said hold on properly.”

“Yeah, but when am I ever gonna get the chance to do this again without getting arrested?” He grabbed her shoulder and laughed as if he hadn't been about to fall off a moving vehicle. “The police can't see me. No one can see me. And Sinastar's doing all the work for me.”

“Okay. Feel free to kill yourself while no one's looking as well.” She let go of him and grabbed onto her own wrist again, focused on not squeezing the life out of their rider.

She appreciated whatever Sinastar had done to fix her ribs even more and wished she had taken him up on his offer to check them earlier while they had been waiting for Jason to return.

“Okay, okay, no need to be so mean,” he muttered, placing his arms around her waist again.

She twitched as his fingertips pressed a little harder into her skin. “Jayce …”

He hummed questioningly into her ear and she could have sworn she heard his lips curve upwards. She turned her head until the visor of her helmet knocked against his. “If you tickle me, I'll kill you instead.”

“Whaaaat? I can't hear you,” he half sang, half chuckled. “The wind's too –”

She elbowed him in the side and clutched at Sinastar's clothes for a moment. Her position on the seat gave her the upper hand and Jason's yelp of surprise made her smile. His helmet cracked against hers as he held on tighter and Sinastar's head finally twisted towards them for a split second.

“Are you two okay?” he asked, voice louder to combat the rushing air.

“Yeah. Jayce's just being stupid.” The helmet smelled like him. Warm salt and something muskier. She was suddenly aware of the distance between its mouthpiece and her face.

“Well, Tara's being mean,” piped up Jason, grumbling to himself. “Mean and scary.”

“We're not far now,” said Sinastar. The warm amusement in his tone sounded like exotic music. Unfamiliar yet pleasant. “Please try not to kill each other before we get there.”

“I'll try,” she grunted, wincing as Jason fidgeted behind her and mumbled something else she didn't hear.

The countryside on either side rolled on like a brightly coloured filmstrip. The further they moved from the town, the brighter the grass and the clearer the sky seemed to get. It was still cloudy but the sun had left its zenith and offered a decent amount of warmth. She wondered if the cows and sheep could see them or if Sinastar's ability extended to animals too. There's still so much he hasn't told me. So much I need to know before I decide what to do.

His body, so close to her own, should have felt like a splinter beneath her skin. Instead, once the initial awkwardness subsided, he sat in her arms as though they had been riding the same motorcycle together for years. How well did he know me back in then? Has he known me since I was born? Did we ever speak to each other before? Is that why he feels like … this?

Several minutes of near silence later, they pulled off the motorway into an A-road. Seconds after that, they turned onto a dirt path between two gateposts and zigzagged through the remains of a broken gate. Sinastar rode alongside a field and used the sparse cover of half naked trees until he reached a ring of evergreens that encroached on the expanse of the countryside. He manoeuvred carefully between the dark green, leafy cones and stopped at an angle, blocking the entrance to the oddly convenient clearing with the motorcycle.

“We're here,” he said as the blue fire helmet crackled out of existence and her hair stood up as if he had just pulled a blanket off her.

“Why the heck is it so cold?” Jason stumbled as he got off the motorcycle as though the hiking bag had tried to grapple with him and held his arms out to either side like a tightrope walker. “And why's this so heavy all of a sudden?”

“I'm sorry.” Sinastar waited until she dismounted before retrieving the backpack from Jason's strained shoulders. “I released the zaitone holding it up.”

“The what now?” As her friend arched an eyebrow at him, Satara walked across the clearing and rubbed her arms.

“A zaitone. A technique that uses zai.”

What the hell is zai? Ten steps. Twenty steps. Twenty five across one way. She circled around its perimeter and measured the distance from the other side. Thirty steps. The movement did little to settle the bumps on her skin but at least some chill had gone. Are we supposed to sleep out here with sleeping bags? I guess the trees will keep the wind out a bit. But what if it rains? By the time she lowered her eyes from the sky again, Sinastar and Jason were already setting up a tent. One of two apparently. The other one leaned against the motorbike.

She wandered over to them and placed a hand on the unopened one. Sinastar laid aside several thin black rods and she started connecting them via the metal tubes provided, leaning cautiously against the motorcycle. He looked like he wanted to say something to her but then joined Jason in his fight against the rest of the tent. Once they had opened it out and decided on a position, closer to the entrance of the fairy-ring like circle of trees, they put together the next pole of the tent's skeleton as she finished the first.

They threaded the poles through the fabric tunnels across the top of the tent and tucked the ends into its circular fastenings. Jason asked her to pass the tent pegs and she realised they had been working in almost complete silence, broken only by his muffled laughter every time he tripped over some part of the tent. Sinastar had already fixed the poles for the second one by the time they finished pushing the pegs into the grass to secure it. He left them alone to finish the second one, weaving silently past the motorcycle and out of the clearing.

“You know, he could kill us out here and no one would ever know,” said Jason seconds after he disappeared, his voice solemn despite the barrier of his grin. “We'd have to run to the motorway but he'd probably turn us into crisps before we get halfway.”

“I told you not to come with us,” she muttered, stretching out one end of the tent material.

“What if he's working with your sister and this is all part of a plan to lure us out into the open?”

She winced as her doubts took the shape of her friend's voice.

“You've seen what he can do,” she growled and flapped the material aggressively at him. “Do you really think he'd need to bring us out here to kill us?”

“He couldn't bury us in those flats.” He shrugged and caught the end of the tent again as she jerked it out of his hand. “Not without anyone seeing.”

“Why would he bother burying us if he can turn us into crisps?” She paused to glower at him. “If you're scared, why don't you go back home?”

“I'm not scared –” He coughed as Sinastar returned and started building a fire from the branches he had collected. “It's just probably best for us to stay on gua-”

“You don't have to tell me that, Jayce.” She resisted the urge to shove the tent poles into the ground instead of through the fabric. The unexpected weight of Sinastar's stare dragged an explanation from her throat. “He's watched too many movies.”

“You watched them too!” He rubbed the back of his head with an awkward laugh when she didn't answer him.

She focused on putting the second tent together instead of destroying it and he helped her silently. Sinastar's attention returned to the branches and he straightened up once the dried wood had been arranged over a meagre offering of balled up paper. He waved a hand over it and a flash of blue preceded the steady crackle of a growing camp fire. Within seconds, the kindling was alive with a normal orange glow and Sinastar sat down beside it, watching them fix the last of the pegs into the ground.

Jason sat down with an exaggerated sigh and extended his hands towards the flames. Satara joined him after a moment's hesitation. The heat curled around her like a living blanket and the smoke drifted straight up and out of the opening above, almost unnatural in its precision.

“This is like something outta a movie though,” said Jason, not quite looking at her. “Right?”

She hummed in agreement but the flickering light that usually calmed her down now reminded her of slit-like eyes and a clawed finger pointed in her direction.

“The thing that attacked us back at the flats,” she murmured, waiting until Sinastar met her gaze before continuing. Jason stopped poking the flames with a stray stick as if its spiralling sparks had formed an after image of the creature. “What was it?”