They approached Maxine’s house, which was a narrow Tudor set back behind a court of hemlocks. Kane knew from the videos that if they walked to the top floor, they’d find one bedroom and one room full of light and watercolors. As they rounded the back, he knew they’d find an overgrown garden with two ski poles pinned in the dirt. And they did, though the garden was beyond neglected. Withered vines hung off the poles from twist ties. Unharvested vegetables sat in the dirt, soft with rot. No one had been back here in a while.

“Hear anything?” Adeline asked Kane.

Kane wasn’t sure just yet. He heard a faint din, just beneath the warm breeze, but it could have just been his heartbeat in his own ears.

“I don’t see any lights on,” Ursula whispered.

“Urs, you don’t have to whisper, I’m keeping us invisible,” Elliot said, his eyes shining an inhuman gold.

“Part of his illusion magic,” Ursula explained to Kane, still whispering.

Creeped out, Kane drifted toward the back door, but Elliot’s voice stopped him.

“Come on, Kane. We can’t just walk in.”

“I want to check on her.”

“But this isn’t even her house.”

“Then why did she answer the phone?”

Kane was acting sure, but he didn’t know. All he knew was the helplessness he’d heard in the old woman’s voice as she called out for her lost friend. And right now the din in his head was rising. Something was wrong.

Ursula let out a small yelp.

“I saw something! In a window! Something moved!”

They backed up to look into the stoic face of the house. Nothing in the windows moved, but Kane was sure something was off about the house. Something about its black presence against the gray sky seemed to bend the air, like the house was a weight slowly sinking backward, pulling the world around it taut. And again he heard that shushing din. Faint and ephemeral, but there. The house whispered with dark promise, urging them to come closer.

Then, from the top floor, there was a scream. At the same time a window exploded outward, releasing a strange pressure from the house and blowing over the desiccated garden. Around them the plants came back to life, turning from gray to green. Flowers uncurled new buds that bloomed in seconds, reinvigorated by what had to be magic.

“Kane was right.” Adeline sounded stricken. “It’s a reverie. It’s already forming!”

“We have to help her.” Kane charged toward the door. Before he’d made it, just as he was passing a propped-up wheelbarrow, he collided with a person attempting to hide in the garden.

They both fell to the ground.

“Sophia?”

Sophia straightened her shirt as she stood. She picked up her phone, the screen showing it was recording a video.

The Others approached from behind.

“Great work, Elliot. Super invisible,” Adeline said.