Flames At Midnight

09 | quentin miller

The whole atmosphere in the basement shifted once we realized what the address meant.

Dillon practically leaped off the couch, saying that he could drive us over right then and there. Kya ran to the other side of the basement and began to rummage through her things. She found the envelope with Ava's necklace in her purse.

We finally had something linking us to Ava Sutherland.

Up until now, I wasn't convinced she existed. Let's be real, nowadays you can probably Google and find out who someone sat next to in the third grade. Nothing turned up for her. But now we had a location, a way to find her. I don't think I've felt this pumped since the night the four of us went out searching for the necklaces.

Although, being honest, if I knew we were going to find glowing pendants, I don't think I would've been nearly as excited.

"What are we still waiting for?" Dillon asked when no one was moving.

"We should plan it out first," Grace said. "It's not like we're just going down the street. This address is in an entirely different city. Thirty-four minutes from here, according to Maps."

"It's Salem, though. Not like we're going to Nantucket or something," I said.

Fiona looked baffled by our conversation. "You guys know who this is?"

As briefly as possible, Kya gave her a rundown of what we'd been up to the last two weeks, from receiving the postcard with my name to finding the necklaces buried in the woods. She inhaled sharply when Kya told her about how Paige how miraculously won tickets to her meet-and-greet right after we found her name in the box, which provided Grace with the perfect opportunity to approach her.

I was impressed. Besides for that small slip, I could hardly tell that she had been close to losing it earlier.

"And now, here we are," Kya said, clapping her hands together. "We were missing the final piece of our puzzle and you just brought us a way to find her."

"Don't forget about the masked assailant," I pointed out.

Dillon nodded. "And we have no idea how to stop the fire."

"And what do the necklaces even do?" Porter asked.

"We're still unsure how the necklaces relate to anything," Grace added.

"You guys are a group of buzzkills," Kya said, sighing.

"But having a way to find Ava helps us move one step forward," I said quickly, steering the conversation back to a more positive track.

Dillon looked ready to race out the door. "We can go now. The night is still young, guys."

I met Grace's eyes, silently asking her what we should do.

She shrugged. "You guys can go now if you want, but I have to stay behind. I really need to work on my essay."

My enthusiasm quelled. I forgot about her paper. I didn't want to go on without her. Grace had been with me every step of the way, and she should be there for something as big as this.

Porter nodded. "She's right. We have school tomorrow."

Fiona also didn't seem very interested in embarking on a spontaneous adventure. "I have an early shoot in the morning, so I really should be getting back to Boston. Whatever this is, it's already affecting my work, and I probably shouldn't miss anymore."

I checked the time. It was thirteen minutes past eight. Salem was a half hour away, and after we got ready and left, we wouldn't get there until almost nine.