Chapter One

Norman would remember that it started much like any other day. He opened his eyes, looked around his room, and slowly rose out of bed. He'd taken to sleeping by himself, recently, and tried to tell himself it was for the best. He couldn't help but feel resentful, though, what with Dylan spending all his time with Caleb on one hand and telling Norman that he shouldn't fall asleep in his mother's bed with the other. As far as Norman knew, Dylan and Caleb were doing the same damn thing – at least one of them had a history of it.

When he went down the hall, he was surprised that he didn't hear his mother up and walking around; usually she woke up a good deal before he did. After hopping in the shower, he started to grow concerned. Had she run out to do some errands or something? Maybe she was oversleeping, or maybe she was sick.

The best thing for Norman to do was to check on her.

He knocked on the door a few times, and when there was no response, he opened it.

No one was there. It was empty. No note, nothing to indicate where she may have gone. Not in the bathroom, either – the door was wide open.

Norman felt a cold sweat come over his body – maybe she'd taken off again, like she had the night she'd found out Caleb was in town. Maybe she had really left this time.

But she hadn't given any indication, had she? She hadn't said anything. Had something happened? Maybe she'd had a fight with Dylan. Or maybe she was out handling something.

Whatever it was, something didn't feel right. It was as if Norman's skin were crawling.

Maybe he would call Dylan and see what was going on – maybe that was the answer.

Norman managed to track down his cell phone and flipped it open, scrolling down to hit Dylan's name.

Well, that was weird. It wasn't in there.

What the hell was going on? Was Dylan in on this too, somehow? Had they had such a weird fight that he'd deleted himself out of Norman's phone?

This was just getting weirder and weirder. He'd have to track down Dylan's phone number. Stupid technology – he could hear his mother's voice saying, "Back when I was growing up, we just remembered what our friends' phone numbers actually were."

He had to admit that she had a point there.

But maybe it was written somewhere in his mother's things – some kind of emergency contact number. That was the type of thing she did, right? Have back-up plans?

Or maybe, by the time Norman sorted out what Dylan's phone number was, he wouldn't need it. He could only hope.

Norman pulled out a chair at the front desk, beginning to go through the dusty old phone book and lists of the few things there was to do "for fun" in White Pine Bay. Unfortunately, it looked like a lot of it was crude holdovers from the Keith Summers era.

None of this was helping.

He was ready to throw it all back under the counter when the door opened and Emma walked in, oxygen tank rattling and squeaking behind her.

"Morning, Norman," she said with a smile.

"Hey, Emma," Norman began, then hesitated. His mother wouldn't be happy if he let Emma in on family drama… But she'd been trustworthy with what he'd told her about Dylan and Caleb. Plus, he was beginning to feel more than a little desperate. "Emma, hey, you haven't heard from my mom today, have you?"

Emma looked up at him with a strange expression.

"What?"

"My mother. You know – I mean, I don't want to freak out or anything," Norman's voice rose a few octaves and started sounding a great deal faster. "But she didn't say anything about going anywhere, and I lost Dylan's number. So did she need to… run any errands for the motel or something?"

Emma cocked an eyebrow.

"Your mother?"

"Yes!" Norman was beginning to feel rather frustrated. "That's what I'm talking about! My mother."

"Are you feeling okay?"

Norman was about to scream.

"What?!"

Emma took a tube out of her nose, then replaced it, as if looking to find a way to buy time.

"Norman… I've never met your mother. She died a long time ago."