“I’m not sure. She’s so old. The past and the present can get mixed up for her. When she was a little girl on the island, she heard some weird things. In the town where she grew up, there were all sorts of superstitions way back then. When I was young, she used to tell me some, all these wild bedtime horror stories. Until my mum found out, and put a stop to it. I think maybe she sometimes has, like . . . flashbacks. Y’know?”

“Uh, yeah. Guess. Crazy, though.”

“This is not a word we use, David,” his mum said.

David shrugged and shot Alex another secret cross-eyed look. Alex just wanted to get away.

“Is she all right, though, Mum?” David’s concern was genuine.

“She’s fine, she’s calm. But maybe it’s best if you don’t go back in just now.”

“No.” Alex tried a smile. “I’d better get home, anyway.”

At the doorstep, David’s mum held the bag out to Alex over David’s shoulder.

“Almost forgot. Sweet potato bread. Pretty good toasted.”

“Thanks . . . That word she was shouting. Do you know what it means?”

She shook her head quickly. “Just some old rubbish.”

“Probably means, like, ‘Why’s this incredibly ugly guy sitting beside me, get him away.’” David grinned as he closed the door.

Alex hunched into the breeze as he walked, his fingers curling and uncurling around the robot in his pocket. That was it. Tomorrow. He’d get rid of it tomorrow. Take a bus to the end of the line, head up into the hills. Bury it deep.

It was later than he had thought. Spits of rain came dancing through the dark. The street was long and curved out of sight ahead, devoid of life. When he was a few houses away from David’s, he heard a rushing, slapping sound racing at him from behind and spun to see a pale shape lurching at his shoulder. Alex ducked away, heart slamming his chest. But after a moment of blind panic he realized he recognized the figure.

“Kenzie?” Breath shuddered out of him in relief.

“Alex,” Kenzie puffed. “How you doing?”

“What? Where did you come from? What do you want, Kenzie?”

Kenzie fell silent, almost bashful, eyes fixed on his sneakers. “I was just passing,” he mumbled. “No, well, all right. I followed you.”

“Followed me? Wait, was that you I saw looking in David’s window?”

“I’ve been trying to talk to you. . . .” Kenzie sounded insistent, but his words trailed into silence.

“Kenzie, what do you want?”

Kenzie grabbed his arm. Alex recoiled, tried to shake free, but Kenzie’s fist tightened. Under the streetlight, Alex saw he looked exhausted. His eyes were dull, shadowed by dark rings. “Listen, Alex. I keep having these dreams.”

“What? Let go, Kenzie.”