“Somewhere isn’t good enough, Jess! You’re leaving me all alone.”

“I’m not. You’ve still got Mom and Dad.”

Beth clenched her teeth. “Mom cries all the time. She thinks it’s because she was working so much that you disappeared. And Dad’s an even bigger zombie than before.”

Jessica closed her eyes, her tears hot on her cheeks in the cool of the blue time. The thought of her parents missing her, not knowing what had happened, was too much to bear. “They need you, Beth.”

“They need you. Maybe they could come here and stand here like I did. I’ll think of some way to get them out to Jenks. I’ll make them come….”

“No.” Jessica took a step forward, put her left arm around Beth. “The rip is fading. And besides, I won’t be here anymore. Jonathan and Melissa and I are leaving Bixby.”

Beth kicked at the gravel, tears appearing in her eyes. “You are leaving me.”

“Midnight’s spreading, Beth. There are going to be more people like me, waking up and finding themselves in the blue time.”

“And lying to their little sisters?”

“Probably, at first.” Jessica nodded. “Right now they need our help.”

“I need you too, Jessica.” Beth was sobbing now.

“I know.” She drew her little sister into a left-handed hug and sighed. “I’m so sorry, Beth. Maybe it wasn’t fair, bringing you out here.”

Beth shook her head.

“But you’ll have to keep everyone in the dark, just like I did,” Jessica said. “You’ll have to lie about it.”

Beth raised her head. “Not to everyone. There’s Cassie.”

Jessica nodded slowly. “That’s right. She saw the rip, anyway. I guess you could tell her about me too.”

Beth sniffed once. “Already did.”

“What?”

“When Jonathan was trying to convince me to come out here. I had her spend the night, and she hid in my closet. And listened.”

A momentary wave of annoyance, all too familiar, went through Jessica. But then it turned into a feeling of relief and she let out a chuckle. “You little sneak.”

“There have to be more people in Bixby who know about all this, who’ve figured out how it works.” Beth pulled away a bit, staring fiercely into her sister’s eyes. “And believe me, Cassie and I are going to find them. Don’t think you’ve gotten away from us yet.”

Jessica looked down at her little sister, a smile spreading across her face, suddenly certain that Beth was going to be okay, with or without her big sister around.

Dess let herself wander along the tracks, looking into the trees, searching for any sign of life. It was almost too quiet these days; she wouldn’t mind the sight of a slither among the leaves. Certainly she was safe enough, between Counterfeiter in her pocket and the flame-bringer a few hundred feet away. Jessica hadn’t tried out her new, softly sparkling right hand on any darklings yet, but Dess was pretty sure she didn’t need a flashlight anymore.