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AMARA COMPLETED HER HOMEWORK EARLY the next morning.
It was the first time she'd ever saved her work for the morning it was due, and with the consecutive disappearances of Will and Barb being everyone's go-to topic, it wouldn't be the last time. Huffing as a strand of golden brown escaped from her messy sleep bun and danced in front of her vision, she tucked it behind her left ear and squinted down at her geometry problem, illuminated only by the dim glow of her desk lamp. While math was one of her strongest subjects, her mind was fatigued from waking up early, coupled with the resurgence of the man without a face. Going back to the woods had done nothing to dampen Amara's curiosity; it had only raised more questions she was determined to answer.
She panicked upon hearing a soft knock on her door, hurriedly shutting her books closed and bolting back to her bed. However, she knocked her chair over in the process.
"Careful, you don't want to wake the neighbors," came the amused voice of her brother. Amara sighed in relief and left her bed once again, pushing her chair upright as Kevin entered her room, grinning. He'd exchanged his pajamas for ripped jeans and a verdant polar shirt, the sleeves rolled up to reveal his forearms. And unlike her, his hair had the audacity to be neat in the morning.
"Procrastinating?" Kevin guessed, moving to sit on the edge of Amara's bed as she resumed her homework.
"Please stop," she muttered, ashamed of herself more than anything. The last thing she needed was to fail school, no matter how dangerous the situation could be. She wanted to please her parents even more than she wished to succeed; it was the least she owed to them after everything they, Eurydice in particular, had done for her.
"Relax, I do it all the time," Kevin reassured her. He rested a hand on her shoulder, bringing her attention to him.
"Is that why you're also up at 5:30 in the morning?" Amara quipped, finally letting a smile grace her features. Kevin had that effect on her; while their parents had grown up in a world where nobody they knew had autism, let alone a family member, Kevin had lived with it his whole life. To him, Amara was just his little sister.
"Well yeah, but also because of Joyce Byers," Kevin admitted, his face falling as he recalled the events from last night. He'd driven to Joyce's house to check on her, only to find her sobbing in the middle of the road, clutching the only child she had left. "Will's body was found in Sattler's quarry last night."
Amara's hand flew to her mouth as she took in the news. A wave of emotions hit her. Shock, sadness, guilt... though the one that stood out the most was confusion. She couldn't put her finger on it, but something just didn't seem right to her. Something felt artificial, as if the timing was so right that it somehow felt wrong.
"I feel bad for her, I do," Kevin continued. "But I'm worried about her health. She hasn't come to work in several days, and when she does it's to buy Christmas lights. I don't know what they're for, but I doubt she's planning on celebrating the holidays."
