Mallory pulled her car into the dirt lane, slowing to a stop as the dilapidated building crept into view from behind the trees that hid it from the main road. She hadn’t planned to come out here today, but when her best friend had hopped into her vehicle after school and enthusiastically shouted, “Taxi, follow that car!” she had whimsically decided to indulge. After all, she didn’t have anything better to do tonight than go home, and she really didn’t want to do that. Home just didn’t feel like home anymore, and some mild stalking seemed like a fun way to avoid it.

The car in question was old. Very old. Mallory didn’t know enough about cars to identify makes and models, but the metal body was rimmed with rust with only the faintest hints of faded teal paint remaining. The thing had to have been put together in the 50s and likely didn’t adhere to any sort of safety or environmental standards. In fact, Mallory was shocked it was even running. But Eliza wasn’t focused on the car – instead, she was obsessed with the occupants.

Or more specifically, one particular occupant. Isaac.

Since the very first day of their senior year, Eliza had talked non-stop about Isaac. He was new to school. He was in most of her classes. He was tall and mysterious, with a commanding voice and presence. He was dangerously handsome and practically perfect. Or at least that was the case according to Eliza. Mallory hadn’t caught more than the occasional distant glimpse of Isaac.

They had followed the vehicle at a reasonable distance, attempting to keep other vehicles in between where they could manage and drifting back farther as it drove out of town. And then the car had pulled down the dirt road leading to the Miller house.

Mallory came to a stop at the end of the lane. They watched the vehicle turn out of sight behind the trees, and waited as the dust settled. “I wonder what they’re doing here?” Eliza said absently. Mallory eased her foot off the brakes and allowed her car to inch forward.

Eliza glanced at her, her eyebrows climbing toward her hairline. “What are you doing?” she asked, her voice jumping up in pitch the way it always did when she panicked.

Mallory grinned at her old friend. “Come on, we’ve come this far. Let’s go say hi.”

“Mallory! Mallory, no!” Eliza was shaking her head emphatically as the other car came into view. There was no one in sight. They both stared up at the wreck of a house.

The Miller house was supposedly named after a family that had been murdered there in the past, causing the home to become abandoned for years. No matter how much searching Mallory did, she couldn’t find any actual records or articles about a family named Miller having lived in the house or of anyone having been murdered there. And she suspected that the many other stories surrounding the place were also merely rumors. She at least knew for a fact that the story of the man-eating goat monster was definitely false, as she had spread that particular story herself. Still, looking at the house as it sat in the shadows of the surrounding trees sent a chill down her spine, and she didn’t consider herself easily scared.  The entire area seemed like a cold, dark spot that stood out all the more against the bright, sunny September day.

The shadow watched patiently. It knew the plan – it had its instructions and it understood that soon it would be time to attack. Even if the plan was already slightly off course. That didn’t matter in the grand scheme of things, although it made the shadow nervous. It wanted to confer with its master, but there was no way to do so at this point. The shadow watched the girl swimming in the pool. From Greyspace it was hard to make out conversation in the Enduring world, but if one was very quiet and very close, one could hear the words – softly, like whispers, like voices carried away on a wind. The shadow was close, so close he could reach out and touch his quarry if it were even possible. But it wasn’t possible. And it wasn’t time.

He stood directly behind his quarry where it sat at the edge of the pool, watching the girl. The girl swam up to the edge of the pool where his quarry sat draping its legs in the water. This girl was the one upsetting the plan. He leaned forward to stare at her – her features were hard to distinguish from Greyspace, but he felt a strange spark of something, an emotion, his first: hatred. He hated her. She had the potential to ruin everything. His quarry sighed. “I wish this summer would never end,” it said to the girl.

“Really? I can’t wait to be done with high school,” the girl responded. “Just think – this time next year, we won’t be required to go to school anymore. Not if we don’t want to, anyway.”

“Well, my parents expect me to go to college. I should be so excited to finally get out on my own.” His quarry leaned back, kicking the water absently. Its movement surprised him and she passed through him – nothing in the Enduring world affected Greyspace, but all the same, the shadow nervously shifted its position. It didn’t like occupying the same space as this… thing. “I just feel like… I don’t know. This dread. Like something bad is going to happen soon.”

The girl in the pool pulled herself up and out in one smooth motion to sit next to the quarry. She stared across the pool, where a young male lay shirtless, tanning in the summer sun. If the plan had gone as expected, he would have been…. Well, that hardly mattered now. The plan would still work, even despite this inconvenience. This girl. “I won’t let anything bad happen to you,” the girl said, so soft that the shadow almost couldn’t hear.

“Oh? For my brother’s sake, or mine?” His quarry leaned forward, giggled as it splashed water at the girl.

“Oh shut up,” the girl spluttered, pushing his quarry into the pool before jumping in herself.

The shadow stood and walked along the edge of the pool, watching, waiting. It stared at the girl, feeling it’s hatred seethe. How had she gotten pulled into this? What made her so special?

She could ruin everything.