1970

Chapter ten: Aftermath

They'd piled into Quinn's Volkswagen in a tangle of limbs panic and racing hearts, no one wanting to separate long enough to get to the other vehicles. Hailey had somehow ended up in Loch's lap in the back seat, both of them too shaken to be properly embarrassed about it. Valerie found herself pressed against Husky's side, her feet tangled with Quinn's in the front. The engine idled, filling the car with its familiar rumble, but Quinn's hands stayed frozen on the wheel.

"Did anyone else see—" Hailey started.

"The stone moved," Loch cut in, her usual skepticism nowhere to be found. "It definitely moved."

"But how did it—"

"Those markings weren't normal—"

"And that sound, like—"

"Enough!" Husky's voice cut through the rising panic. His arm tightened around Valerie's shoulders, steady despite everything. "One at a time, alright? We need to think about this clearly."

Husky cleared his throat. "Right. What exactly did we just see?"

"The stones weren't local," Valerie said softly, feeling Quinn's tension radiating through the small space. "You said that yourself, Husk. The composition was wrong."

"And those markings," Hailey added, her voice steadier now though she made no move to extract herself from Loch's lap. "They were like... like they were moving when you weren't looking directly at them."

"Could've been a trick of the light," Loch suggested, but her arms had tightened around Hailey's waist, betraying her unease.

Quinn made a sound that might have been a laugh if it hadn't been so close to something else. His face had taken on a greenish tinge, and his breathing came in short, sharp bursts.

"Hey." Valerie reached for his hand, finding it ice-cold. "Quinn. Look at me."

He turned, his eyes too bright, too wide. The morning sun through the windshield caught the copper in his hair, making it look almost like a halo of fire.

"We have to go back," he said, the words tumbling out. "We have to document everything, measure the circle, photograph the markings—"

"Tomorrow." Hailey's voice was firm, brooking no argument. She'd shifted in Loch's lap to face forward, her hand resting on Quinn's shoulder. "We'll go back tomorrow."

"But—"

"She's right," Valerie said softly. "Think about it, Quinn. None of the newspaper articles mentioned the stone circle, right?"

He shook his head slowly.

"So we need to do this properly. Compare the location to your maps, gather our notes about what we saw, make a proper plan." She squeezed his hand gently. "We need to be smart about this."

The tension in his shoulders eased slightly. "Yeah," he breathed. "Yeah, okay."

"Plus," Loch added, "maybe we should bring some actual equipment next time? Cameras, measuring tape, compasses—"

"Compasses don't work right near the river," Quinn said automatically, then blinked as if surprised by his own words.

"-something better than your phone flashlight, Hails." Loch continued after a pause.

"Hey!" Hailey protested, but there was relief in her voice at the return to something approaching normal banter.

They sat there for another moment, listening to the engine idle and their breathing slowly steady. Valerie was acutely aware of Husky's warmth against her side, of Quinn's pulse still racing under her fingers.

Finally, Hailey stirred. "We should get going."

"Right." Loch opened the door, helping Hailey climb out with perhaps more care than strictly necessary. Their hands lingered together for a moment before they separated, heading for Hailey's car.

"Back to mine?" Husky asked, though it wasn't really a question. None of them wanted to be alone right now.

Quinn nodded, finally releasing his death grip on the steering wheel. As he turned the key, Valerie caught a glimpse of their reflection in the rearview mirror—all of them pale, wide-eyed, changed somehow by what they'd seen.

Or maybe they were finally seeing what had been there all along.

—-----------

The drive back to Husky's house passed in relative silence, broken only by the occasional murmur of Quinn reading over his notes. Valerie stayed pressed against Husky's side, neither of them acknowledging it but neither moving away either. The morning sun painted everything in deceptively normal colors, as if trying to convince them that what they'd seen wasn't real.

But the memory of stone turning like a door, of that otherworldly song rising from the river, lingered. And underneath it all, a certainty grew: this was only the beginning.

When they pulled into Husky's driveway, Mr. Ayuluk was on the porch, Corbat helping him water the hanging plants. They looked so normal, so safe, that something in Valerie's chest ached.

"You okay?" Husky asked quietly as Quinn cut the engine.

She thought about the stone circle waiting in the woods, about the way Quinn's hands still shook slightly, about the sound of bells that seemed to echo in her memory.

"No," she said honestly. "But we will be."

The morning stretched on, sunlight warming the world as if nothing had changed. But they all knew better now. Tomorrow would come soon enough, and with it, more questions than answers.

For now, though, they had this: the safety of friendship, the warmth of sunlight, and the knowledge that whatever they were facing, they would face it together.

Even if some small part of them wished they didn't have to face it at all.