If there was one thing Ronan Lynch was good at, it had to be pissing people off. Sure, him and his brother had a feud that would last their entire lives, but Ronan was genuinely capable of picking fights with anyone. Currently, Adam Parrish was the individual who was far beyond furious. Was it because of Ronan? Well, when wasn't it?

"I'm going to strangle him," Adam grumbled, though it was an empty threat. And both him and the person he was speaking to knew that.

"You have no idea where he is? You're certain he didn't leave a note or tell you he was going anywhere a few days back?" The other boy, Richard Campbell Gansey III, asked. Leave it to Gansey to attempt to be the calm in the storm during a crisis. Though, if Adam was being honest, Gansey's façade was crumbling. The other boy was secretly far beyond worried.

"He didn't say anything. And he definitely didn't leave a note," Adam muttered, beginning to pace around the cracked pavement that made up the parking lot at Monmouth Manufacturing.

Blue sat on the obnoxious orange hood of the Pig, legs crossed and head tilted to the side as she listened to Adam's current predicament. Meanwhile, Gansey stood at her side, leaning back against the Pig's hood. The couple were watching Adam with immense worry, seeing as he couldn't prevent himself from pacing. Adam was angered, but that was a direct result of his worry and fear; that was just the way Adam Parrish's emotions worked. However, Gansey and Blue were both also thinking about Ronan's whereabouts, finding themselves feeding off of Adam's anxieties.

"Maybe he'll call you?" Blue suggested, but that remark almost made Adam laugh. Because Ronan Lynch using a cell phone was practically unheard of.

"He won't..." Gansey muttered, not wanting to be the pessimist, but still wanting to remain realistic. Even Blue had to know that there was no feasible way that Ronan would use his phone. Ronan could be dying while holding a cell phone, and would prefer to bleed out opposed to calling for help.

Blue shot Gansey an upset look, but he only exhaled a sigh in response. They both wanted to comfort Adam, yet were uncertain how to do so. Because neither of them had the ability to make Ronan Lynch appear out of thin air. Blue anxiously messed with a bracelet that she had made out of a variety of colorful seed beads, which had a small silver charm on the end; the charm was a gift from Gansey and was shaped like a lily. Gansey had a matching bracelet, yet his charm was a golden crown. And both of them refused to take them off.

"I'm going to kill him..." Adam muttered, beginning to run his hands through his messy hair. Currently, it was eleven in the evening, and Ronan had been missing the entire day and majority of the previous night.

"Look, I'm sure he's going to show back up. That's kind of what Ronan does: takes off without warning and returns whenever he feels like it," Gansey explained, removing his wire-frame glasses from his face to rub the bridge of his nose, then he put the glasses back on.

"Did you two have a fight or something?" Blue hesitated to ask, but felt like she had to. Blue grabbed onto one of Gansey's hands, where he immediately began fidgeting with her skinny and delicate fingers. He would mess with some of the rings she was wearing, but Blue didn't mind. She knew that it made him feel a bit better.

"Nothing too severe. We've had worse fights," Adam muttered, sitting down on the curb, placing his head in his hands. He felt like crying, yet he knew that he wouldn't. He couldn't have a breakdown in front of Gansey and Blue. He wouldn't let himself.

"Do you think it had something to do with Declan?" Gansey questioned next, watching Adam in a concerned manner, yet knowing that they still needed to work towards locating Ronan.

At that suggestion, Adam's head perked up almost immediately. His eyes were wide with complete and utter bewilderment, allowing Blue and Gansey to know that they'd finally gotten somewhere. The couple shared a brief moment of eye contact, wanting to ensure that they were on the same page. Adam rose to his feet again, beginning to pace once again.

"Declan kept trying to get in touch with him for the past week, saying that something bad was happening and it was urgent. But Ronan doesn't do things just because they're urgent. He operates on his own schedule. I asked him about it, but he just said that it was nothing and I shouldn't worry about it..." Adam murmured, eyes glittering with fear as his hands clenched into fists at his side. Gansey's eyes popped wide open, his own heart beginning to race just at the thought of whatever Ronan had clearly gotten himself into.

"Shit..." Gansey muttered, quickly grabbing his phone out his pocket and dialing the cell number for Declan Lynch before pressing the device to his ear. Silence loomed over the parking lot as Gansey awaited an answer.

"Hello?" The voice didn't belong to Declan, but it was a Lynch brother. And he sounded absolutely terrified.

"Matthew? What's going on? Where are you? Are you okay?" Gansey began rattling off questions; Blue squeezed his hand, signifying that he needed to calm himself down and not act all panicky. Therefore, Gansey inhaled a deep breath and went quiet, listening to the youngest Lynch brother struggle on the opposite end of the line.

"Gansey... Declan and Ronan... There's so much blood... And debris..." Matthew's voice was trembling, and it was easy to hear him sniffle while attempting to speak and combat tears. Gansey gripped onto his phone so tightly, looking up at Adam, eyes filled with horror. Adam immediately got the message that something bad was going on.

"Get in the Pig," Gansey demanded, nodding for the other two individuals to get in, and quickly. Gansey hopped into the driver's seat, meanwhile Blue climbed into the backseat and Adam placed himself in the passenger seat. Everyone in the vehicle was tense and silent; the quiet was completely broken by the sound of the Camaro roaring to life.

"Matthew, I need you to tell me where you are," Gansey spoke as calmly as he could, attempting to keep his voice level. He placed the phone on speaker, handing it over to Adam so he could use both hands to drive the vehicle.

"Okay... Um... I don't really know... We were all in Declan's car... And then... And then... And then this thing... It jumped onto the hood and... We crashed... And they're gone... I don't know where they went... But Declan's phone was still here..." Matthew muttered as Adam inhaled a sharp breath, meanwhile Blue felt lightheaded just hearing that fragmented portion of the story. Gansey narrowed his eyes down, focusing on the road ahead of him.

"Okay. Matthew, I need you to find a road sign for me, okay? And tell me what it says," Gansey requested, his voice firming up as he began understanding that he needed to be the strong one in the situation. Sure, he was horrified, but he had to take charge.

"Okay... Um, this one says 'Speed Limit 70'," Matthew's weak voice reported for the other side as Adam pointed over towards the interstate. Gansey briskly nodded, knowing that Adam was right; Matthew had to be on the interstate. No highway or street would have a speed limit that high.

"Alright. Do you see any other signs? Anything with town or city names on them?" Gansey questioned as Adam's hands began trembling. Matthew had no idea where Declan and Ronan were, let alone if they were alright. A lump formed in Adam's throat at the thought of finding Ronan's decimated corpse. He forced himself to stop thinking about that. His boyfriend was fine. He had to be.

"Um... Yeah. Uh... This one says 'Exit 28A in One Mile'," Matthew explained as Gansey yanked on the gear shift, knowing exactly where that was. Blue grabbed onto the headrest of Gansey's seat, knowing that they were about to break many speeding laws.

"Just stay put, Matthew. We're on our way to pick you up. And we're going to find Declan and Ronan, so don't worry. Do you have any clue as to what attacked you?" Gansey questioned, meanwhile Adam began looking out the window for anything that would show where any of the Lynch brothers were.

"Uh... It was a monster... A monster caused the car crash... It... It wanted me... But Ronan swore a lot and began to fight it..." Matthew stated as Adam closed his eyes, not wanting to think about an unarmed Ronan Lynch attempting to fend off a monster. But then Adam understood a bit more, opening his eyes up wide and looking over at Gansey.

"The Nightmares..." Adam muttered, attempting to piece all of this together. Gansey nodded, continuing to speed up.

"But why would the Nightmare want Matthew?" Blue questioned from the backseat, leaning over the console to speak to the two boys who were sitting in the front of the vehicle.

That question placed Adam in a mental labyrinth. Why would one of Ronan's Nightmares target Matthew Lynch? On the surface, it didn't make much sense at all. But the longer Adam thought about it, it made a sick and twisted sort of sense. He felt nauseous just thinking about it. Adam turned to look back at Blue, eyes about to bulge out of his skull.

"Because Matthew is a dream item. But a good one. He's also one of Ronan's most treasured dream items. The Nightmares are evil mistakes that he doesn't want. It's a twisted and deeply-rooted jealousy," Adam suggested, meanwhile Gansey continued to increase the speed of the Pig. Blue seemed completely shocked, but she also believed that it made a strange sort of sense.

"Shit..." Blue murmured, beginning to anxiously piddle with her bracelet.

"And you said there's blood? Is any of it yours?" Gansey questioned next, which was followed by a short silence.

"I think so. I have some scratches, but they're not that bad. Most of the blood is... Really dark... It looks black..." Matthew explained as Adam's worst fears were confirmed; these were the Nightmares. And they had Declan and Ronan.

"Okay. We're less than a minute away now. Stand on the side of the road, okay?" Gansey requested as they all heard Matthew begin to move from the other side of the phone.

Sure enough, it only took about thirty seconds before Adam spotted Matthew Lynch standing on the side of the road, his clothes torn and both black and red blood soaked into them. Gansey was quick to pull the Camaro over, Adam jumping out of the vehicle before it had even stopped moving. When Matthew noticed Adam, he was unable to stop the tears from falling. The youngest Lynch brother rushed over to Adam, quickly hugging onto him; this caught Adam completely by surprise. Adam could feel Matthew tremble in his arms.

Blue and Gansey climbed out of the Pig quickly, Gansey stopping to ensure that Adam was comforting Matthew before the couple headed down into the thick woods, finding Declan's sleek new car; except, now, it was torn apart from the natural surroundings and something less natural. Long claw marks ran down the hood and fist-sized holes had been punctured in the windshield.

"He wasn't even afraid... Not at first, anyways... Then something inside of him switched... I've never seen Ronan afraid before... But he was terrified..." Matthew muttered, the four individuals all staring at the wrecked vehicle that belonged to the eldest Lynch brother.

"Were Ronan and Declan talking about anything strange when this happened?" Blue questioned, looking over at Adam and Matthew as Gansey began searching the car, which had the driver and passenger doors pulled off entirely.

"Yeah... They were talking about how... How Ronan thought something was after... Well, it wasn't after him. It was after—" Matthew stopped abruptly, his eyes widening as he looked up at Adam with horror.

"You can't be here..." Matthew muttered as Adam arched an eyebrow, unsure of what to make of that claim.

"Matthew... What do you know?" Blue asked, attempting to use a gentle voice, but her nerves were getting the best of her. Meanwhile Gansey began pulling items out of the car: duffel bags, binders, and anything else he could find.

"Ronan thought something was after... The things he loves... And he was explaining that to Declan... Then Declan asked about you and Ronan got all pissy before explaining that he didn't tell you where he was going so you wouldn't follow. Because it wasn't safe. And that, as long as you stayed at The Barnes, you'd be alright..." Matthew mumbled as Adam looked over towards the car, suddenly understanding that this was a lot more dangerous than he previously believed it to be.

"How many monsters were there?" Adam changed the topic, not wanting to think about the fact that his presence alone could be catastrophic for the team. Blue was standing next to Matthew now as Adam meandered over towards the items Gansey was removing from the car.

"Just one. But... Ronan called it by name. He knew what it was. It was familiar to him," Matthew explained, trying his best to calm himself down and collect his thoughts in order to better help the others. However, those few sentences were enough to fully capture everyone's attention.

"By name?" Gansey asked, arching an eyebrow while looking back at Matthew, pulling Ronan's cell phone out of the floorboards of the demolished vehicle.

"What was its name, Matthew?" Blue asked, her attention frequently shifting between the three boys that she was with. Gansey held her gaze, the two of them sharing silent understanding that this wasn't going to be a pleasant mission.

"Um... I don't really remember... Vinsy? Kivney? Um..." Matthew rambled, but Adam already knew what he was trying to say. And he had to restrain himself from swearing.

"Kavinsky?" Adam asked as Gansey's eyes widened, looking immediately to Adam. And Adam was already looking back at him.

"Yeah! That's the name," Matthew confirmed as Adam began feeling dizzy, knowing that this was far from good. Blue blinked a couple of times, her eyes falling to Adam.

"He's dead..." Gansey muttered as Adam shook his head slowly.

"I don't think it's really him. There was still black blood. I think... I think one of Ronan's Nightmares took the form of Kavinsky," Adam explained as Gansey slowly nodded in agreement. Blue placed her head in her hands, attempting to think through what that really meant for the group.

"That explains why Adam is in the most trouble..." Blue murmured as Gansey groaned, beginning to understand that part as well. Adam didn't respond or react, instead he took Ronan's phone from Gansey's grasp and began analyzing it.

The device came on immediately, opening up and displaying a home screen that was filled with the general apps the smart phone came with. There were many notifications on the green phone and messages app. All unread and unbothered. And who knew if Ronan would ever respond to any of them. Adam's heart began racing as he looked at the wallpaper, seeing a familiar image that made him smile. It was a slightly blurry picture of Ronan placing a kiss on Adam's cheek as the latter grinned like a maniac. Gansey had taken this picture forever ago, and Ronan had bitched about how it was an invasion of privacy. But Adam always loved it. And, apparently, Ronan did too.

"Yeah... Kavinsky never liked me to begin with, let alone the fact that I'm Ronan's boyfriend..." Adam murmured, keeping his eyes trained on the device he was cradling in his hands. Keeping his focus on the image of him and Ronan; frozen in time and preserved forever.

"It'll be okay, Adam. And I'm sure Ronan—"

"No, it's not okay and neither is he. If the Nightmare isn't like the others, then this is going to be a massive problem. Because this issue isn't about them directly attempting to attack him, it's after Matthew, myself, and anyone else Ronan loves," Adam explained himself, watching as Blue stared down at the ground. She occasionally shifted on her feet, visibly displaying how uncomfortable she was with this entire situation. Gansey, on the other hand, was returning Adam's intense stare, internalizing all of this information.

"What do we do?" Matthew hesitantly asked, looking between each member of the group. Gansey turned his focus back to the car, searching for anything of significance inside. However, Ronan's phone was the best that they were going to get.

"Did you see which way they went?" Gansey asked as Matthew shook his head, looking down at the dirt in shame.

"No. I passed out after the crash. When I woke up, I was alone..." Matthew muttered, but proceeded to turn and point over towards a small clearing within the brush. The trio turned their attention towards where Matthew pointed, but they figured out what he was gesturing to.

"That was all that I could find... But I was too afraid to leave the car," Matthew whispered as Adam bent down to observe the marks in the mud that Matthew had pointed out to them. They were shoe prints, and they went to three different pairs of shoes; Adam was rather quick to recognize one of them due to the fact that it was always stamped in the dirt all over the land at The Barnes.

"Okay. Let's see where the trail leads," Gansey muttered as Blue stopped and looked back at Adam, worry evident on her face.

"Adam... Are you sure you should come with us? Maybe it would be best if... If you waited back at The Barnes," Blue suggested, but Adam was extremely quick to shoot down that idea. He wasn't about to be scared off this mission. Ronan Lynch was missing; Adam Parrish wasn't going to lie low and do nothing.

"I'm going," Adam insisted as Blue accepted that answer, then shifted her attention to Matthew.

"What about you, Matthew? Do you want one of us to take you to The Barnes?" Blue questioned next, watching the youngest Lynch brother's body language. He wrapped both of his arms around himself, seeming hesitant to go with. Then again, he also didn't want to be alone.

"I'll come with," Matthew decided. Adam nodded, wrapping a protective arm around Matthew's shoulders. Gansey accepted these answers, then began leading the way deeper into the woods.

Adam and Matthew stayed close to one another; Matthew out of fear and Adam out of necessity. Adam wanted to ensure that nothing bad would happen to the two of them, seeing as they were the most at-risk from the wrath of the Kavinsky Nightmare. Gansey shoved brush aside, clearing a path for the quartet to travel through. Blue kept at the back of the group, keeping her eyes on Adam and Matthew. After the group had been walking for around ten minutes, there was a loud gust of wind followed immediately by a rustling of leaves. The whole group froze, glancing around to see what was around them. But silence loomed over the woods; not normal nature silence, though. It was completely silent; no wind, no insect sounds, no running water, no leaves falling, no wild animal noises, and no tree branches creaking. Complete and utter silence.

"I don't like this..." Gansey muttered, the four individuals scooting closer together. Blue was quick to capture Gansey's hand, which he instantly squeezed onto like she was an anchor.