Darci wasn't supposed to answer the door, but her Mom was on the phone and she was right by it when the bell rang. She hazarded a glance into the kitchen and saw that her mom hadn't heard.

She contemplated the situation for a moment and decided it would be fine. Her mom could see her from where she was and Darci was eight now.

She checked to make sure the porch light was on and then pulled the door open, letting in a breath of cold night air.

She stared in bafflement at their visitor. Standing outside, alone, in the rain, was a boy about her age. He was in a dirty, too large t-shirt. His straight black hair -cut rather unevenly as if whoever had cut it didn't really know what they were doing- was wet and plastered against his head and neck. His skin was pale, not just because he was white, but as if he had never seen the sun.

He stared at her with wide blue eyes.

"Who are you?" He asked.

"…I'm Darci," She said uncertainly.

"But I mean… why are you here?" He shifted from one foot to another and took a quick glance back before fixing his eyes on her again.

"…This is my house?" She really didn't know what he wanted.

"But… but… this is my…" He trailed off, looking around once more uncertainly. "Do you know where my Mom is?"

"Your mom?"

"Barbara Lake. She lives… lived here?"

"She must have moved," Darci offered. "It's just me and Mom and Dad here."

"Oh," The boy said quietly.

His lip quivered and water welled up in the corners of his eyes.

Darci frowned. She didn't like people crying. She was never quite sure what she was supposed to do.

"Maybe, Mom could…"

"That won't be necessary."

Both Darci and the boy jumped in surprise at the new voice. A tall grey haired man had appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, behind him. He was wearing an absolutely obnoxious Hawaiian print shirt with plaid shorts and sandals but something about him, something in his sharp, hawk like gaze made Darci wary.

"Merlin…" The boy started to say, but then quieted when the man shot him a look.

"Who are you talking to?" Darci jumped again at her mom's voice behind her.

She glanced back and saw that her Mom was frowning at the strange pair in front of her.

"I thought I told you not to answer the door without me."

"Sorry, mom," She said automatically.

She wasn't really paying attention to her Mom but rather watching the boy. The man… Merlin?... His hands rested on the boy's shoulders and he seemed to tense under them. He looked as if he had been caught doing something he wasn't supposed to be.

"Sorry, ma'am," The man was saying. "My grandson was looking for his Mom who used to live here. -He came to live with me during the divorce, you see- I did try and tell him that she had moved but well…"

Darci's Mom frowned.

"Sorry to hear that. Was she Mrs. Lake? I think we still have her contact info…"

"Quite alright," Merlin interrupted. "No need to trouble yourself. Boy, tell this lady you're sorry for disturbing her."

The last comment was accompanied by a squeeze of his hands. The boy kept staring at the ground and muttered 'sorry'.

Something was wrong here.

"What's your name?" Darci asked the boy.

His head jerked up and he stared at her in surprise.

"Oh, it's…"

"Come along," Merlin said sharply, cutting him off. "We need to hurry if we're to make it to our hotel in time to check in."

He turned away taking the boy with him.

"I don't like that," Darci heard her Mom murmur.

As Darci watched the two figures move out of sight, something small and white detached from the taller of the two. The things came closer and she saw that they were two little white moths.

One of them landed on her Mom and the other tried to land on her. She dodged it. It followed her. She darted away from it toward the kitchen. Behind her she heard the door close.

In the kitchen Darci turned around and saw the moth still following her. Beside her was a water glass. She grabbed it and brought it down over the small insect.

"What are you doing?"

Darci glanced up at her Mom.

"I caught a moth."

"Oh, why don't you take it outside?" Her mom turned toward the stove and her casserole.

"You've got one on you,"Darci told her, pointing at her Mom's shoulder.

She blinked and glanced down at it before swatting at it with her hand. It fluttered away to the window and squeezed out through a little crack between the screen and the sill.

"Annoying creatures," She said. "I should make sure none have gotten into the closet."

Darci turned back to her captive moth and studied it. It was a strange looking little thing. It was a pure, chalky, white with wings shaped like downy feathers and a long thin body. She got a piece of paper and slid it under the glass so she could pick it up without it escaping. She started toward the window.

"Do you think that boy was the one who used to live here right before us?" Darci asked her Mom.

Her Mom looked at her with a puzzled frown.

"What boy?"

The events of that night haunted her all week. Darci tried to get her Mom to say anything about the strange man and boy who had come by their house, but she didn't seem to remember a thing. She asked her Dad about Barbara Lake but he had only met her in passing and didn't remember if she had any children or not. When he asked why she wanted to know she changed the subject. Darci was starting to wonder if she had just imagined the meeting. She kept the strange moth in a cage by her bed. It was her only proof that the whole thing was real.

It wasn't until Friday when something finally came of the incident.

"Do I have to come?" Darci whined.

Her Mom took the bread out of the oven.

"Yes, dear. We won't be there long and it will be good for you to get to know our neighbors."

Darci heaved a large sigh. She glanced at her Dad, who was busy fumbling with his tie. When he noticed her stare, she gave him a pleading look. He gave her a rye "we're all in this together smile" and went back to his tie. Darci turned back toward her Mom.

"But Toby's so boring! He just ignores me when I come over."

"That's because he's shy."

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. That's what adults always said about loners. She had tried her hardest but Toby's actions made it very clear he just plain wasn't interested in being friends.

After dinner finished up and Toby and Darci were told to go off and play while the adults chatted.

Once in Toby's room they had split off to play games on their phones and ignore one another. After about a half hour Darci ran out of lives so she took a break and looked around the room.

It was a rather dull place in her opinion: Nowhere near as cluttered as her room. It had bare wooden floors, a few scattered posters, an old computer, and a large wooden dollhouse. The only interesting thing in the room was the collection of rocks and crystals that spread across every available ledge. Eventually her gaze was drawn to a picture on the desk. It was of Toby with a black haired, blue eyed boy. A very familiar looking boy.

Darci stared at the picture.

"Who's that?" She demanded.

Toby blinked at her and then briefly eyed the picture. His gaze quickly returned to his phone.

"That's Jim," He said quietly. "He used to be my… neighbor."

"Is his Mom's name Barbara Lake?"

Toby turned fully toward her with a frown.

"How did you know that?" He asked.

"I saw him last week," Darci said excitedly. She was so glad to finally have some confirmation that she hadn't imagined the entire thing! "He came to our house and said he was looking for his Mom."

Toby was staring at her.

"What."

"Yeah, he was with this weird old guy who said he was his Grandpa."

"Jim didn't have a grandpa," Toby said quickly.

"Well he never called him "Grandpa" He called him "Merlin"."

"Like the wizard?"

Darci nodded.

Toby's nose wrinkled and his eyes narrowed.

"Quit lying," He said and turned sharply away from her.

Darci stared at him in opened mouth shock at the sudden accusation.

"I'm not lying."

She had always prided herself on being quite honest in fact.

"Yes you are," Toby said. "Jim's been missing for two years now. He's probably dead. I heard the police talking about it."

That was news to Darci.

"He's missing?"

"Yeah, that is what I said," was Toby's clipped reply.

Darci frowned. She remembered the way Merlin had been holding onto Jim's shoulders. It was like he thought the boy would try to escape.

"Do they know he's dead for sure?"

"No…"

That must have been why Jim was at the house. He must have gotten away from his kidnapper and tried to return to his Mom…

Only to find out that she had moved.

"So what if that really was him," Darci insisted. "Why would he say his Mom was Barbara Lake otherwise?"

Toby said determinedly looked away from her. "Maybe because this is a stupid prank that someone put you up to?"

Darci folded her arms in irritation.

"Why do you think I'm lying?"

"Oh I don't know." Toby finally looked at her. His fists were clenched and his brows were low. "Because I'm not dumb. I mean "Merlin"? Really? You should try to make up a better story than that."

"I am not making it up."

"Are too!" Toby snapped getting to his feet.

"Am not!" Darci took a step forward, her own fists clenching.

"Are TOO!"

"Am NOT!"

There was a pause. They were practically nose to nose now. Apparently it struck them both at the same time just how ridiculous they were being and they took a step apart.

"So what would it take to convince you?" Darci asked.

Toby huffed.

"I don't know… actual proof?"

Darci hesitated and then decided to go for it.

"As they were leaving something strange happened," Darci said hesitantly.

She described to him what had happened with the moths and her Mom.

Toby was now looking at her like she was crazy. Darci could feel her face burning.

"I still have the moth," She said.

Toby made a little scoffing sound.

"What's a moth prove?" He asked. "There's moths everywhere. And seriously make up a better story."

Darci ignored the jab. She was tired of the whole thing. "Take it or leave it."

"Fine, I'll come see your moth and if I'm not convinced will you leave me alone?"

"I will," Darci said easily.

It wasn't like she would want to hang out with him anyway if he kept insisting that she was lying. She got why, but it still stung.

It was a nice sunny Saturday when Toby came over. It had now been about two weeks since the incident.

"Let's see your bug," Toby said in a surly tone.

Darci shot him an annoyed look. She was seriously rethinking her choice in telling him but… he was her best bet for finding someone to believe her. She didn't know many people yet and wasn't ready to risk any of her new friendships at school.

"Come on." She motioned for him to follow her up the stairs and turned right to go into her bedroom. Once inside she turned back to see Toby hovering in the hallway, brows furrowed and posture tense.

"Well?"

Toby blinked and then came into the room with on quick jerky step.

"Let's get this over with," He said eyes fixed firmly on the ground.

Darci picked up the small plastic cage; noting with an uncomfortable jolt that the moth stayed as close to her hands as possible.

"Here." She handed the cage to Toby and wiped her hands on her pants.

"It's certainly a weird looking thing," Toby said after a moment.

"I looked online and found out that it's a White Plume Moth," Darci said. "They're from Europe and North Africa."

Toby hummed.

"Doesn't prove anything," He said, turning the cage around in his hands.

"Look at how it follows me," Darci said.

She moved closer to the cage and the moth began fluttering against the plastic closest to her. She circled and the moth trailed after.

"Okay. That is a little weird," Toby admitted after trying to get the moth to follow his own hand with no success.

"Right? Based on what happened with the other moth and Mom, I think if it touches me I will forget about meeting Jim."

Toby's nose wrinkled and he shot her a skeptical look.

"It's weird but it doesn't prove anything. Here." He held it out toward Darci.

Unfortunately when he took a step forward his foot landed on Darci's gunrobot toy and he slipped. The cage flew out of his hands and hit the ground causing the top to pop off. Now free of the cage, the moth started flying toward Darci.

"Nope. No. "-Darci jumped out of the way.- "Absolutely not." -She took a swing at it with a book and missed. It was unusually agile for a moth.- "Not today."

She was feeling a lot more certain of her theory now.

"Quit standing there and get it!" Darci yelled at Toby who was standing there watching dumbly as the moth chased Darci all over her room like she was a giant lightbulb instead of a girl.

"Uh…"

Toby grabbed a shoe and brought it down on the little white insect as it fluttered past.

There was a flash of light and a puff of green smoke.

Darci and Toby stared with wide eyes at the shoe and then at each other. Slowly Toby lifted the shoe away. The moth was flattened; its insides splattered on Darci's desk. In the middle of the mess was a very small green gem, about the size of a grain of rice. It was glowing faintly.

As they watched its light flickered and died.

Toby grabbed a pencil and poked at it.

"I think it's an emerald," He said. "But emeralds don't glow. Where did it come from?"

"Maybe it was in the moth?"

Darci was shaking. It was one thing to suspect that there was something weird going on but this… this was freaky. And not in a good way. The thought that there really existed something that could remove memories –that she would have never known if it had been used on her- was very, very unsettling.

"Do you believe me now?" She asked.

Toby nodded wordlessly.

After a moment his gaze shifted up from the remains of the moth to her. They were wide and shiny.

"S-so you were telling the truth? You really saw Jim? He came here?"

Darci blinked, a brief rush of warmth coursed through her before cooling into a cold shiver at the memory.

"Yeah," She said looking away. "I think so."

"Was… Did he look okay?"

Darci grimaced and focused her eyes on the moth. She really didn't want to answer that question.

"Darci?"

She jumped when she felt a hand touch her arm.

"Sorry," Toby said quickly.

He clasped his hands together so hard that the knuckles where turning white.

"Please?"

Darci sighed.

"He looked scared," She said finally. "He wasn't hurt but he was all raggedy like a homeless person. He only had time to ask about his Mom before Merlin showed up."

"Oh."

Toby was shaking. He let out a loud sniff and then sat down heavily on the floor. He hiccupped and then, to Darci's horror, he burst into tears.

Darci glanced at the door and then at Toby. Her hands stayed uncertainly at her side and then, after another long moment of hesitation, she knelt down by him and patted his back.

"Are… are you okay?"

"He's alive," Toby managed to whisper out between sobs. "I thought…"

He twisted around and latched onto Darci in a hug.

"Thank you." He said. "I'm sorry for calling you a liar."

"I forgive you."

Eventually Toby's tears petered off and he pulled away from her. They sat for a moment in awkward silence.

"So what now?" Darci asked.

"I don't know," Toby said. "Your Dad's a detective right? Maybe he can help."

"I'm not sure," She said.

She thought of the moth taking her Mom's memories. What if she got her Dad involved and this Merlin guy got mad. What if he made him forget more than just Jim? Besides…

"I doubt he will believe me. My only proof is rather flat now."

She gave a meaningful glance at the table.

Toby flushed.

"Sorry about that."

Darci waved her hand dismissively.

"Don't be. I'll sleep better without that creepy bug watching me."

They sat a moment. Toby pulled out a couple Nugget Nummies and offered her one. She accepted and they ate them in thoughtful silence.

"So going to the grown-ups is out of the question," Toby finally said. "I guess it's just us then?" He paused eyes widening. "I… I mean me. You don't have to help. It's enough that you found out he's still alive. I wouldn't dream of…"

"I'm helping," Darci said firmly.

"But you don't even know Jim."

"Yeah, but it's the right thing to do," Darci said. She couldn't drive those sad, lonely blue eyes out of her mind. "Anyway this is definitely the most interesting thing that's ever happened to me."

"That's for sure," Toby muttered. "And here I had just stopped believing in fairies and stuff. So where do you think we should start?"

Darci shrugged. Despite her Dad being a cop she had never been that into mysteries. She glanced at the flattened moth.

"I guess we could start doing research on Merlin?"

Toby frowned following her gaze.

"Do you think he really was the Merlin?"

"No idea," Darci said. "But it's as good a place to start as any."

"I suppose. Do you want to meet at my house tomorrow?" Toby said. His gaze was alternating between her and the ground.

"I'll have to ask my Mom and Dad but I think that sounds good."

"O-Okay…"

Toby started edging toward the door.

"I'll see you then?"

"Yep."

Toby darted quickly out of the room and a minute later Darci heard the front door open and close.

She looked out the window and saw Toby trotting across the street. Once he was out of sight, she walked across the room and collapsed onto her bed.

What was she getting herself into?

Authors Notes:

This was supposed to be a short chapter but then Darci and Toby started arguing.

Plume Moths being able to take away memories was borrowed from the "Dark is Rising" sequence, though it was used very differently there. I'm going to say Merlin added his own twist. (Also go check out The Dark is Rising. It's a good series.)

Please let me know what you think! (Reviews, critiques, and comments give me as a writer power and motivation!)

Tune in next time for the appearance of our favorite punk wizard.