Chapter 2: Rise of the Evening Star - Part 1

"Who's on my schedule for today?" Doctor Roberts pushes her hair back into a tight ponytail, trying to force her life back into some semblance of normal. Some days like these made her feel like she was totally out of control, but she had to focus. Focus on her patients and projects, not on the police case that she had been looking into, or her own personal case that she had been obsessing over.

"Well, we've got your first appointment with one Casey Hancock, 16, Western Hope High School Sophomore, with paranoia, OCD, and a bad case of halitosis to cap it all off," Shiara pipes up, striding along with the Doctor.

Shiara was a transfer Management had sent up to Doctor Roberts to help her manage her cases, now that the psychology ward has doubled in size. The Doctor still likes to focus on the children's cases, and even though she didn't like to admit that she needed help with her caseload, it really did help her that someone could schedule for her and help with some of the paperwork. With her blue hair and silver earrings, she was always on hand for an encouraging word. All the interns loved her, but that might have been because she was closer to their age than most anyone working at the hospital.

"Halitosis?" Doctor Roberts askes, grabbing the tablet that Shiara had handed to her and swiping through the patient's information, "I'm a psychologist for heaven's sake, not a periodontist!"

Shaiara shrugs, wincing sympathetically. "Do you want a few minutes, or are you ready for him?"

"Any parents in there with him?" Maybe it was unprofessional, but Doctor Roberts wasn't sure if she was ready to handle anyone over the age of 25 yet.

Shiara shakes her head and points to something on the tablet.

"He's got an uncle, Errol Fisk, but no parents with him right now."

Doctor Roberts frowned and tapped on the tablet. "When did he get checked in?"

"Two this morning," Shiara said brightly, "Orderlies got him calmed down, but they've been waiting for you ever since."

"Two?" Doctor Roberts exclaims, stopping in the middle of the hall as people around them glance up in alarm, "Sorry." In a lower voice, she asks, "Doctor Khatri was on the night shift, she's more than qualified to take this case! You could have paged. Why is he barely checked in? "

"That's the just thing. They insisted on waiting," Shiara wrings her wrists nervously, "They asked for you specifically ."

Kendra hates the police station. It's not for the reasons you might think, though. Sure, it's loud, busy, and she's coming there to be questioned, but the reason she hates it, is because every time she walks in, she thinks of Seth.

Seth, her stupid, obnoxious, little brother, who carried around an "survival kit" of various items in a cereal box, who would have loved going to a police station every day and meeting detectives and desk sergeants.

He would have loved it all.

But he's not here.

And it's not fair.

But that's okay.

She takes a deep, calming breath through her nostrils, checking her phone as she settles in the uncomfortable seat in the police station waiting area. There are a few texts from her parents, which she replies to immediately, then she scrolls through Instagram, idly double-tapping on her friends' photos. Before the incident, she had been somewhat of a loner, with a few friends, but no one that close. Now, a small community had banded around her, checking up on her, having fun with her, cheering her up.

She can't really believe it, but she thinks she's happy. There's still a hole where Seth was, and it'll never be filled up, but she's built around it. Doctor Roberts had told her that the loss was never going to go away, but they still would be able to work through it, to overcome it. There are still breaks in Kendra's memory from those hazy months after Seth's death. She still has memories that she isn't sure are true, too normal to be part of Fablehaven, but too strange to be in the real world.

The day of Seth's death- Kendra has been calling it the Equinox, because saying the whole label every time rips her heart open- has been one of the most confusing days, meshed between her mind and reality, and she's not sure if the things she's seen were her imagination or the truth. The days before are almost as bad.

That's another thing she hates. She hates not being able to trust herself with her mind. Ever since she was a little girl taking spelling tests in second grade, she's always promised herself she'll work hard, plan well, be the smartest in the room. And ever since then, she … basically has been. It's not a matter of bragging, just a matter of willpower and time. And it's not like her grades have been bad, it's not like she's having trouble in school, but it's finals week and she just can't concentrate like she used to.

And that's the last thing she hates: herself. Because no matter how hard it is for her, she has to do it, has to get through it, for her little brother. For her little brother who's not going to get any older.

"Kendra?" Elise, a policewoman with sleek red highlights in her hair, pokes his head into the waiting room, "Detective Trask is ready for you in his office."

Elise and Kendra weren't really friends, exactly, mostly because Kendra didn't know her well enough for that, but they still fall into their same easy conversation on the way to the detective's office.

"School going okay?"

Kendra nods, shifting her backpack on her shoulders, "Okay enough. Finals end soon, and I can't wait until Friday, me and my friends are going to watch a movie."

Elise raises an eyebrow, "I've heard Medal of Shame is being shown in theaters, I watched it yesterday and it was really good."

"Isn't that the one about the serial killer?" Kendra asks, wincing slightly. It had looked interesting enough, but she wasn't one for watching thrillers at night.

"Yeah! It's gri-" she pauses when she sees the expression on Kendra's face, "On second thoughts, maybe watch something a lot more age appropriate."

Kendra snorts as they reach Trask's office, nestled close to the very center of the station. "I'll keep that in mind!"

Elise smirks and waves a hand in passing. "Until tomorrow."

She turns the corner before Kendra can say anything else, only left to blink after her. The door to Detective Trask's office is closed firmly shut, and for a second, Kendra thinks about following Elise back down the halls, heading out, and walking home.

But this has to be done. Not just for her, but for Seth.

She knocks firmly against the door.

"It's Casey, isn't it? Can I call you Casey?" Doctor Roberts sits across the good-looking boy, who's glancing around the room nervously. These waiting rooms are created with the specific purpose of causing the least mental anguish as possible. Every surface is soft, and the lighting is always dimmed to a soft glow. Casey is sitting in one of the beanbag chairs, while his uncle has opted for an armchair across the room. He smiled at her politely enough when she walked into the room, but he's now tapping urgently on his phone, texting someone with startling speed.

Casey nods and watches her suspiciously. "I don't get why I need to be here, Doctor."

Doctor Roberts nods and gives him a reassuring smile. "How about this? I'm going to ask you a few questions, and you can answer them. If you don't want to, your uncle can take them. Does that sound okay?"

Casey slumps down further in his beanbag. "I guess." Casey's uncle let out a breath and shoved his phone in his pocket. "Sorry, work has been- You know what, no excuses. I'm Errol Fisk, Casey's uncle. You can call me Errol."

"It's good to meet you too, Errol," she shakes his hand and settles back, tablet in hand. Sometimes she misses her old-fashioned pen and clipboard, but she can't deny that it's a lot more convenient to have all her files in the same place. There was some merit to the hospital's technology initiative.

"Let's start with a quick question. Was there a reason you asked for me specifically?"

Fisk shifts uncomfortably and glances at Casey, who shrugs. "Someone in my school came here, and they mentioned you in passing."

Doctor Roberts nods encouragingly, "I'm glad your friends a-"

"Oh, she's not my friend," Casey corrects quickly. Errol gives him a long-suffering look that the boy misses, "I'm pretty sure she hates my guts. Kendra Sorenson?"

Doctor Roberts frowns, but otherwise, she doesn't make any sign of outward recognition. "Sorry, I can't confirm or deny anything about any possible patients. Can you tell me more about why you're here today?"

Casey shrugs and stares at the floor. After a moment, Fisk begins to speak,

"Casey and I moved here from Bhutan. His parents disappeared in a hunting accident, and he's not doing too well adjusting-"

"I can hear you!" Casey interrupts angrily, "I'm adjusting just fine!"

"We're all speaking together," Doctor Robert soothes, "Do you want to add anything, Casey?"

The boy scoffs but says nothing. Errol continues in a small voice.

"He's also been hoarding things, small things that he got from his parents, and even presents from relatives, friends. The house is a mess."

"You're a mess," Casey retorts under his breath, ignoring Errol as he flinches. He seems surprised when Doctor Roberts turns to him and asks, "What about you, Casey? Have you noticed anything about yourself recently?"

Casey looked away. "I'm not crazy."

Doctor Roberts nods and gives him a sad smile. "You're not," she confirms, "You're going through something scary right now, and I'm going to do my best to help you. You know when you get a cold?"

Casey nods, looking straight at Doctor Roberts for the first time.

"Well, this is exactly like that, except it's the chemicals in your brain that are out of balance, instead of the chemicals in your body. I work on seeing what's causing the changes, and if you decide to get a psychiatrist, they'll use medicine to balance the chemicals. You're not crazy at all."

Casey nods slowly and lets out a breath. He looks pointedly at his uncle, who smiles encouragingly at him.

"Well, I don't have trouble getting along with people," Casey starts, "It's just hard to relate to them sometimes. People want to be my friend, but I don't know…"

"Just run through it for me, one more time," Trak's deep voice rings through the room as he settles down in his massive detective chair, a pen and pad at the ready. Kendra resists the urge to groan.

"We've already gone through it more than five times," she says, careful not to let her frustration show in her voice. After all, Detective Trask was trying to help her, "And it's been the same story each time. There's just some stuff that's not exactly clear yet."

"And that's why we're going through it again, and again, until everything is absolutely clear." Detective Trask frowns at the notebook in front of him, "You know what, let's back up a bit. What about before the accident."

"Before?" Kendra frowns, "What about before?"

"Well, along with your account and the anonymous tip we received the day the Doctor came in, we know this wasn't some normal accident. There might have been something that motivated it, and running through your accounts will help us figure this out."

"You still haven't told me what the tip said," Kendra points out, "Maybe if I read it, I could figure out who it's from."

"That would defeat the point of an anonymous tip," Trask says slowly, his eyes flicking to the clock above the door. Kendra had noticed the placement the first few times she had come in. It was in an angle that the detective could see it quite easily, but the person in the chair would have to turn around completely to take a look at, and Kendra couldn't exactly do that with the detective staring right at her.

She would be stuck here for the foreseeable future, until her parents came to pick her up. They had gotten kind of paranoid with her walking around the neighborhood, and Kendra honestly didn't mind. She still got queasy when she saw a car passing while she was walking on the street. Some sort of latent PTSD, according to Doctor Roberts.

"Fine," she took a deep breath, and forces herself to look up, "There had been a break-in, at the house, maybe a month before the accident, and Seth was really shaken up by it."

Trask frowns and rifled through the file he had laying out on his desk. "That isn't in here."

"No, it wouldn't be," Kendra sighs, "Nothing was taken, and I think Mom and Dad just wanted to put it past us. It's probably nothing related to this, but-"

"No," the detective closes the file and folds his hands on top of it, giving Kendra his full attention, "Anything you say could be important. Anything could reveal a motive, so I need to tell me everything."

Kendra raises her eyebrows, but keeps going. "Well, like I said, nothing was taken. Mom and Dad took a night off, Seth and I were at home. I went to bed around ten, because I usually wake up and study anyway, but Seth stays-stayed up." A fresh wave of grief passes through her, and she swallows past the lump in her throat, "He was the one who called our parents, I didn't even wake up through it."

"So Seth was awake when the accident happened? He didn't call the police?"

Kendra shakes her head. "He went downstairs, and when he turned on the lights, the person going through our stuff just bolted. Broke a window in the process. We thought Seth had seen him before he stole anything."

Trask smiles grimly. "And it wouldn't have even occurred to you that he was going through your things."

"Why should it?" Kendra's voice trailed off, "Hang on, there was one other thing. Around that same time, there was a man, who used to pass us by at the bus stop. I only remember him because he was kind of good-looking, and passed us by at like, the exact same time every morning. I didn't even mention him to Seth, but he stayed for like 3 weeks, and then vanished."

Trask makes another note on his notepad and tears out the sheet.

"Do you think you could sit down with one of our sketch artists and make a picture of that man? I know you might think he doesn't know anything, but it wouldn't hurt to check."

"Of course," Kendra agrees unsurely, glancing at the door. She's not sure this is a clear dismissal, but as she stands up, Trask looks at her, determination written all over his face.

"We're going to get to the bottom of this, Kendra. I promise."

It's only 3 hours into her shift that Doctor Roberts calls her lunch break, but to be fair, it's nearly 4 o'clock and she hadn't really eaten much of a breakfast. Besides, she wasn't taking a break for fun. No, she had a business meeting to attend to, but it would be too complicated to call it that. For now, she was just going to meet a friend over lunch. It didn't matter that they were the leading clinical chemist for mood stabilizers, depressants, and a host of other things that Doctor Roberts worked with psychiatrists to give to patients.

It was time to meet Dr. Tanugatoa Dufu.

The Indian restaurant is practically deserted when she arrives, just after the normal lunch crowd. Tanu is hard to miss in the corner, though. His broad shoulders and infectious smile were the first things she had noticed about him when she had first met him, and it's the first thing she sees every time she sees him.

After such a long day, it's a welcome sight.

"Tanu!" she exclaims, "It's so good to see you! I hope your travels have agreed with you?"

Tanu, who had nearly started in surprise when Doctor Roberts had arrived, grins.

"When has travel not agreed with me, Avery?" he counters in a deceptively soft, slightly accented voice. It's not what someone would expect of a man of his build, but then again, no one would ever expect a man like Tanu. That wasn't to say he wasn't dangerous. If the stories were true, he had once fought off a bear- and won.

Well, if the last few months had taught her anything, it was that stories always had a vein of truth in them, hidden like gold in stone.

As their food is served, Doctor Roberts rubs her hand together. "So what have you found for me this time?"

Tanu dips a piece of flat bread in lentil soup, and takes his time chewing and swallowing. He grins at her, revealing the slight gap between his two front teeth. "Okay, so not all of it may be totally legal, but I acquired it all through legal practices, it's just the exports and imports that are a bit tricky…"

Oh, she had almost forgotten about that part. Tanu's a celebrated clinical chemist with more than one degree to his name, doubles as a medicine man in third world countries. The way he gets his components into the country, though, is, in the loosest sense of the word, unconventional .

Tanu's a man of his word, though, and he gets all of his remedies through humane means.

"I know the drill," she waves away his protests and lowers her voice, "I'm never going to use them for my patients, not until they're approved, but it's always nice to know what's going to be coming in the next few years."

Tanu nods slowly, and leans back, but Doctor Roberts can tell that he's actually cataloguing the room and its occupants. Not only is this corner in the back of the area, their table is well hidden, and Tanu has a full view of the room. He opens up his satchel and pulls out a few vials, all stoppered with heavy glass corks. He runs through the first few, a vial that can manipulate your emotions (in any range!) , catching her eye in particular. It's clear that he's a bit distracted, though, and he keeps glancing at the door. In all the time Doctor Roberts has known Tanu, she's never seen him as a nervous man, but right now, he's doing an awfully good impression of one.

Doctor Roberts follows his gaze a few times, but as far as she can tell, he's jumping at shadows. Finally, it grows too much. She holds up a hand, pausing him mid sentence, and raises an eyebrow.

"Well? What's going on?"

Tanu sighes and runs a hand over his short hair. "What do you know about the Society of the Evening Star?"

Her stomach jumps into her throat.

Doctor Roberts has heard of the Society of the Evening Star before. It's been whispers at the end of a telephone, never anything out in the open, but it's connected to her husband's disappearance, and her son's false imprisonment. It's enough for her to shake her head tightly and set her fork down.

"This conversation is over," she mutters, and moves to stand up, glancing around nervously. Tanu stands up with her, shaking his head.

"I didn't mean to make you upset," he mutters sadly, regret crossing his face, "Walk with me out?"

Doctor Roberts hesitates for a second, then nods, once. It's only a testament to how much she trusts Tanu that she stays. If he's mixed up with the Evening Star, she's done with him. Then again, if he's mixed up with the Evening Star and he's told her about it, that means she's probably done with a lot of things. Her hands are trembling slightly, and she curses herself for it. She's wanted to talk with the Evening Star for a long time, but now that it's a possibility, she feels sick. All the rich food that she's just eaten churns in her stomach.

She hands Tanu her credit card when the waiter comes with the bill and he's smart enough to take it without a word and slide his own with it, telling the waiter that they'll pay seperately. By the time he comes back with the receipt, Doctor Roberts has catalogued every single escape route of the restaurant.

She's damaged, but she's not broken. Not yet.

And she won't let the Evening Star do that to her.

Not this time.

They make it ten paces outside the door before Doctor Roberts whirls on Tanu, slipping a hand in her purse warningly. Before she can get a word out, though, he holds both hands up.

"I know what you're thinking and it's not it," he says hurridley, "I don't have much time to explain, but I'm not part of the Society . I'm the opposite."

"The opposite," Doctor Roberts tilts her head, unimpressed, "There's no such thing. You're lying."

"That's what the Dawn wants you to think!" Tanu exclaims, "They also go by the Knights of Dawn sometimes, but that's beside the point. It's a secret group, made up of people who the Evening Star has harmed over the years, just people who want to stand up to them!"

"Then why haven't they reached out to me yet?" Doctor Roberts shoots back, slightly bitter. They're not even bothering to keep their voices down anymore. Someone's going to notice them.

Tanu shakes his head. "Avery, this is me reaching out to you. The Knights of Dawn need your help. You know more about the Society than anyone!"

Suddenly, Doctor Roberts felt very, very tired. Tanu was young, still. His face was unlined, and his eyes were clear, not marked yet, byt the shadows of despair.

"Well?" he asks expectantly, "Can you join us?"

He had gone through terrible things, Doctor Roberts didn't deny that, but he wasn't the first to come to her, and he undoubtedly wouldn't be the last.

The Knights of Dawn would fail. It was inevitable.

She lets out a breath, almost a shudder, and shakes her head.

She knows better than to try to dam up the river. All she can do is latch on to a rock and hope to weather through the storm.

"I'm sorry," she whispers to Tanu "I'm sorry, you'll have to find someone else."

"The Evening Star?" Kendra asks dubiously, "This is what you have so far? It sounds like something out of a children's book."

"I assure you, Kendra, it's as real as it gets," Trask said smoothly, "Our source gave us something that connected the two, and I was wondering if you had heard of it before, or heard Seth mention it."

She thinks for a moment, trying to remember any conversation, anything at all that was out of the ordinary, but she always came up empty-handed though. This time, when she tossed the bait of the 'Evening Star' in her mind, she felt a tug on the line.

"Hang on a second," she whispers, "Seth, he mentioned a few times, just a few, but months before the accident."

Trask makes a note on his sheet. "The Evening Star is a secret society, he shouldn't have heard of it at all. What did he say about it?"

"Um…" Kendra's voice trails off as she shook her head, "I don't remember."

"You don't remember?" Trask asks, the faintest hint of frustration finally coloring his voice, "Try to think real hard, Kendra, this could be the connection we've been looking for."

But Kendra just shakes her head and buries it into her hands. "I can't, It's just blank there. The only reason I remembered that he mentioned it was because he used the exact same words you did. 'The Evening Star is a secret society.'"

"Of course," Trask says immediately, shaking his head, "I apologize for showing annoyance, I know you're trying as hard as you can. Just know, I'm doing everything in my power as well."

Kendra nods and swallows a few times, trying to get her voice to work again.

"So what do you know about Evening Star anyway?"

Trask stares at her, clearly weighing whether or not to show her what he knew, so she adds,

"I mean, I'm not sure what fact could jog my memory, so I'm just trying to cover all my bases."

The detective nods and pulls off the cord he's always worn on his neck. Hanging at the bottom is a key, which he uses to open up the lowest desk drawer. He pulls out a file and places it flat on his desk.

When Kendra opens it, there's only one sheet of printer paper in there. One piece of paper, 8 and a half by 11 inches, is all they know. In fact, the back doesn't even have that much information on it. She skims it as fast as she can.

"The name of the leader is 'Rhodes'?" she asks, perplexed. If they knew the leader's name, then they should be well on their way to finding out more about the gang. But Trask was already shaking his head.

"It's just a codename, but it's a definitive piece of evidence. If we were looking at alleged crimes, the stack would be worth a hundred of those folders."

A sudden gust of wind seems to come from the air vent, threatening to blow the paper off the desk, but Kendra presses her hand against it.

"I'll try to remember more."

It's all she could do, now.

There's a knock on Doctor Roberts' office door. She's had so many appointments scheduled for today that she doesn't even check her schedule before calling "Come in!"

Shiara's out on some errand, and the Doctor has to do a double-take when she says Dale in her doorway. He hovers awkwardly, but she waves him in, and double checks that she doesn't have anywhere to be right now.

"Everything alright, Dale?" she asks, almost dreading the answer. He looks exhausted, with dark smudges under his eyes. She knows that something's been going on with him, but she hasn't had time to ask him about it.

In fact, she hasn't spent much time with any of the orderlies lately, because of her suddenly busy schedule. That's something she needs to fix. She's made too many friends just to lose them over bad time management.

Dale opens his mouth, but no words come out. When he finally does speak, it's in a whisper.

"I need your help."

Doctor Roberts swallows hard as she follows Dale into the room. They're still in the hospital, only a few floors down, but the air seems stiller here, and it's quiet, other than the steady beeping of machines. The man in the bed is young, younger than she'd expected. Lying tucked in bed, he looks like he could be a child, barely older than her youngest. Late twenties, at most, with handsome features. His milk white skin is alarmingly close to the shade of the sheets, and his eyes stare blankly at the wall.

"They say he's gone into a vegetative state," Dale nods, pressing his palms to his eye sockets, "He won't talk, won't move on his own, barely eats. Everyone's at a loss, and I know you're not this kind of doctor, but I just thought - well, if you have time-"

"Of course," Doctor Roberts shakes her head, "Of course, I can take a look. That's not even something I have to think about."

Dale lets out a breath and nods, sitting himself gently down in the chair on the right side of the bed, and rubbing his eyes.

"His doctors say he's taking a turn for the worst, but honestly, there's been no other change in his condition. He's just barely living. I -I don't know what to do."

The Doctor frowns and checks the young man's pulse again. It's slowed to a crawl, barely discernible, but his eyes are open, and he's blinking placidly into empty space. It's the only motion in the room, but for some reason, it feels like it's not there, not really .

"Why do the doctors think he's declining?" she whispers to Dale. For some reason, whispering seems appropriate. Overall, his brother's state looks bad, but it looks stable.

Dale keeps nodding to himself. "Every night, there's a time when his pulse drops so low, the machines can barely detect it. When it comes back up, it's always slightly less than it was, and his heart can't take the stress-" He laughs, but it's clear he doesn't think there's anything funny about this situation.

"You know, before all this," he waves a hand in his brother's general direction, "Warren, he would do anything. He was a private investigator, but I think he really just wanted to be an adventurer. He would go on all these stupid trips-" Dale's voice broke, and he took a deep breath, "He was always dragging me around, trying to get me to go skydiving or hiking in the Andes, or backpacking across Spain, and now, all I can do is sit with him, and wait. Wait for his heart to give out. "

Doctor Roberts nods once, the lump in her throat making it hard to speak. She wants to say she's sorry, but what good would that do?

"How'd he get in this condition?"

Dale shrugged, placing his hand over Warren's. There was no reaction.

"The police found him on the side of the road, all pale and unmoving like this. They sent him to the hospital, but it was days before they thought to check his phone contacts. He had been working a case earlier, but he wouldn't tell anyone what it was about."

"And was that normal?" Doctor Roberts checked.

"It's usually like that," Dale admits, "His clients expect a- well, they expected a certain level of discretion. The police went over to his apartment, but they couldn't find anything. He keeps stuff hidden, but he's damn good at his job, and I can't imagine-" He sighs. "Sorry for going on about this."

"No, no, it's fine," Doctor Roberts says, taken aback. She's surprised to realize that means it. "My husband's missing."

There's a pin drop silence in the room, and Doctor Roberts can't believe the words have slipped out of her mouth.

She keeps talking before she loses the nerve. "He's been missing for almost two year, and I know it's not the same at all, and I couldn't possibly know how you feel, but I'm sorry."

Dale nods at her, a half-smile playing on his face as he turns to look at his brother. "We're just waiting for the other shoe to drop."

Kendra loves lingering at school at the end of the day. There's something relaxing about walking through the halls, hearing snippets from other people's conversations and plans for summer. She had already bid goodbye to her friends, and today had been the day of her last final.

She can't ignore the small burst of pride that shoots through her. A lot of her teachers had thought that she was going to have to repeat the year, after missing so much school, but Seth probably wouldn't have wanted her to fail, so this was her, working harder than ever. She would be lying if she said she had stopped hearing his voice completely (mostly when she forgot to take her meds), but she was doing good.

The first round of buses had left already, long before she had even reached the bus loop, so she resolves to walk home when a tall man wearing a strangely tailored suit and a long black coat catches her eye. He's standing off to the side, where some teachers usually stand and direct traffic at the end of the day, but he definitely didn't look like any teacher or parent that Kendra had seen before. When he notices her watching, he raises a gloved hand in greeting.

It was around 80 degrees outside, which made it all the more strange. Nobody around him seems to be paying any attention to him, which is strange, but could also mean nothing at all.

She turns around and walked a few paces, resisting the urge to look over her shoulder. Lucky for her, there were still plenty of students milling around. If the man was going to try anything, he hadn't picked the right location for it.

Kendra shakes her head and turns around, making eye contact with the suspicious man again. He cocks and eyebrow at her and waves expectantly. Kendra racks her brain as to where she could have seen the man before, but she comes up with nothing. Unless he's a family friend she'd forgotten, she's never met him before.

The only problem is, she can't deny that he's familiar. He isn't familiar, but the way he carries himself, the way he's watching the crowds, that's another story. She takes a deep breath, and asks herself, What would Seth do?

It's a no brainer. Her brother had never been able to let go of mystery, and neither had she. Besides, if this did have something to do with- The Equinox , then at least she'd have more to tell Detective Trask.

Kendra pushes through the crowd and makes her way to the man. He holds out a hand, but she doesn't take it. She might be taking a risk, but she isn't about to be stupid.

"You got the time?" the man asks, pulling his hand back, "It's good to see you, Kendra."

Very subtle, she takes a step back. After a moment, she answers, "How do you know me?"

"I don't," he answers simply, shrugging his shoulders. His heavy coat shifts back slightly, and Kendra can see something cylindrical shoved into his belt. The world seems to go all wavy for a second, but she catches herself. She catches the last of what the man has been saying. "-only of you, but you know how it goes. I'm Errol Fisk."

"Errol Fisk," she tries the name out, but it isn't familiar at all, "I'm sorry, I still don't know you."

"No, you wouldn't," Errol sighed, "I'm sorry to hear about your brother."

By now, Kendra's already thumping heart is beating a steady rhythm out of her chest.

"How do you know my brother?" she presses, "Do you know about the Ev-"

"Not here!" Errol whispers suddenly, looking very, very afraid. Suddenly, Kendra is aware of the cars, buses, and people all around them. This is a very good place to talk, but it's also a very, very bad place to talk. "I can meet you tonight, are you available?"

"Sure," she responds without even thinking. Her exams are over, and this might be the best opportunity she gets to talk to someone about the Evening Star. Trask might not know much, but she doesn't know how much the police are hiding from her. They still see her as a fragile little girl.

She's a lot of things, but fragile isn't one of them. Besides, if Errol knew Seth, he might know the reason, the reason behind all of this. It isn't like she has much to lose anyway.

"What do you mean, he cancelled all the meetings?" Doctor Roberts has had a headache for most of the day, and this bombshell just before she was about to clock out was not helping it.

Shiara shrugs, looking just as weary as the Doctor felt.

"You said the session went well?"

Doctor Roberts nods. "He was a bit resistant to the idea at first, but I got through to him at the end! Casey and his uncle came in early and asked for me by name! Why would they withdraw from treatment after one session?"

"Sorry, boss," Shiara pats her on the shoulder, then drops her tablet unceremoniously on her desk, "I'm clocking out for the day."

"Sure," Doctor Roberts nods distractedly, "I think I'll-" she motions to her desk. There's got to be something else behind this. She's opening her laptop before her assistant leaves the room, but she catches Shiara shaking her head on the way out.

Well, she's not going to think about that , so instead, she logs into their patient records and pulls up Casey's file. It looks normal. Almost… empty. There are a few well-care visits from previous care-providers that have been signed off on, but nothing regular, and she hasn't heard of any of the clinics.

There's something so utterly strange about this that she gives in and plugs the provided home address into Google Maps. It's a gross breach of confidentiality, and she's never, ever looked up a patient on the internet, but there's something about the way Casey Hancock and Errol Fisk had spoken. Not to mention the fact that Kendra had told her that she hadn't even shown her friends which hospital she was going to.

She wants to be wrong. She wants to see a nice apartment complex, or a small suburban area. Instead, all she sees on the screen is a cluster of empty lots.

The Evening Star has found her again.

The last time Kendra snuck out of the house, it had been because of Seth. It was a stupid thought, really, not even anything related to the Evening Star or anything else dangerous. It had been because her little brother had gotten invited to a party, one that she hadn't been. Their parents hadn't let him go, after all, which parents would let a middle schooler go to a high school party?

He had snuck out the same way he always did, which meant she was awoken at 11 pm by the sound of her brother trying to slide down the elm tree behind their window in pitch darkness. She had ignored him bitterly, resolving to snitch on him in the morning, when he would be undoubtedly too tired to do anything else but confess.

Instead, her phone had buzzed less than two hours later, waking her up for a second time. She had picked up, because it was Seth. If Seth called her, that nearly always meant something was wrong, and she was his older sister. She'd complain and gripe about him all the time, but if he needed help, she'd drop everything.

After the short call, she had grabbed her wallet, opened the window, and slid down the elm tree herself. Seth was standing underneath, eyes slightly red, and looking exhausted. Kendra hadn't said anything, just grabbed his arm and walked until they reached the strip mall two blocks down. They bought milkshakes at the 24 hour diner and got back home just before their parents noticed.

She had fallen asleep twice in class the next day and hadn't regretted it a bit.

Now, sliding down the trunk of the elm tree, she feels like she should be meeting her brother down here. She'd never gotten it out from him what had happened, but middle schoolers could be startling mean. And Seth had gotten over it after they started guessing what the other people in the diner would order. Seth kept trying to convince her that the man in the corner booth with a sallow complexion had been ordering a blood smoothie instead of a cherry Slushy.

She had agreed to meet Errol at the gas station, only two stores down from the diner. After waiting a few minutes just in case the lights downstairs came back on, she slips into the night. She makes sure to stick to sidewalks and side yards, crossing roads only when she absolutely has to. She doesn't really have anything to worry about, she knows; she hasn't even seen a car out tonight. The wind picks up a bit, but her mind stays thankfully clear.

Errol's waiting outside the gas station, looking decidedly nervous. Even from a distance, Kendra can tell he's pacing back and forth. She has the sudden urge to turn around and run back home, climb that tree and wrap herself up in bed. Forget about everything that had happened.

Except, she had tried that once. She had forgotten everything once.

She knew it never worked.

She walks towards the gas station with more confidence now. This has got to be connected to the Society, which means it could give her a lead to what Seth was doing.

Maybe she could finish what he started.

He would be proud of her.

Doctor Roberts has packed her bags. She's done this before and she'll do it again, disappearing into the night. She's bought three different plane tickets, all in the cheapest class. She'll roll a dice at the airport, get on a random flight. She'll take a four month leave of absence, her patients will miss her, but she can't go through this again. She can't .

She's disappeared before, but she hates it.

Just before she steps outside, her phone vibrates in her pocket, and she pulls it out, staring at the screen. It's a Withheld number.

She declines the call with shaking hands and gets into her car, hands shaking. She tosses her duffel bag in her back and just sits there for a moment. Her phone rings again.

It's Detective Trask.

Something's wrong.

"He knew something was going wrong." Errol tells Kendra, looking her straight in the eye, "He wouldn't even tell me what he had found out."

"So he did know something?" Kendra checks, "About the Evening Star. Did he tell you what it was? Why would they kill him?"

Errol runs a hand through his and snaps his fingers. A card appears in his previously empty hand.

"That's a neat trick."

"Legerdemain," Errol notes, flipping the card over in his gloved hand, "Just a bit of sleight of hand. It's useful when you need to hide things." He gives her a hint of a smile. "Seth found it amusing as well."

"I bet he did," Kendra smiles sadly. Seth had always had a better sense of humor, "What's on the card?"

"An address," Errol hands her the card, "Seth's hidden his files there. I would go and fetch them for you, but the Society might be watching me. I'll drop you off and you'll be able to slip by unnoticed."

Kendra turns the card over in her hands uncertainly. She recognizes the address, it's a street only a few blocks down from here.

"Why not just hand it to the police?" she asks finally, looking up at Errol. The older man runs a hand through his hair.

"I already tried that," he shrugs, glancing back towards his truck, "The detective in charge, Trask, said that they get too many leads on the Society every day. Besides, we can't afford to have to have them get to the files first."

There's still a nagging sense of doubt in the back of Kendra's mind, but she pushes it away. "Let's do it now."

Errol nods. "That's probably the best idea." He gestures to his car, a beat up Volkswagen. "Shall we?"

Kendra pulls open the door to the passenger seat, mildly relieved when it doesn't fall off in her grip. She doesn't dare get comfortable in the seat, but she feels better than she had on the road. Her right hand is gripping a can of pepper spray in her pocket, just in case.

Errol seems to pick up on the tense atmosphere and gives her a forced smile.

"Don't worry," he says, starting up the car, "Once the night is over, we'll have more information on the Evening Star than ever."

A blast of lukewarm air fills the car as the AC clicks on by itself before Errol leans over and turns it off.

"Some days, I wonder if this car is older than I am," he grumbles, "Sorry about that."

"It's alright." Kendra stares out the window quietly, trying to commit the route to memory. They take the exit ramp onto the highway and she looks away from the road after a few cars passed by them. They spent less than fifteen minutes on the highway when Errol turned on his indicator, merging into a side lane. Kendra had never noticed this particular offshoot before, but the man seemed to know exactly where he was going.

They make a few quick turns, and soon, they're on a street with no lights, towering trees on either side. Errol pulls over on the side of the road, and all is quiet. She doesn't even think she can hear any animals out here.

"Are you sure this is the right way?" Kendra asks nervously, speaking for the first time since they got off the highway. "It looks… dark."

Errol turns a knob next to the wheel a few times, cursing under his breath until the high beam headlights finally turn on. They illuminate a sign in front of what looks to be a short driveway:

MAGNUM Funeral Home

Since 1955

"We're going to break into a mortuary?" Kendra swallows hard, feeling more than a little creeped out.

"Oh, the funeral home has been out of business for ages," Errol reassures her, "Seth apparently found the location on one of his school trips. I never did hear the story."

Kendra considers this for a moment, then shrugs. That sounded like it could be true. "So, what am I supposed to do?"

"There's a high chance the Society will be monitoring me, so we can't stay long. You'd have to go in through the garage door and look for a statue that looks like a frog. That's where I think Seth hid a flash drive of files."

"Frog statue, flash drive, got it." Kendra nods as she catalogues the information. "How do I get into the garage?"

"Almost forgot!" Errol ran a hand through his hair nervously, "The password's 7109, then press enter."

"7109, enter." Kendra echoes. She's about to get out of the car when another thought strikes her. "I'm not going to run into anyone inside, right? There isn't going to be any security, or anything?"

"Oh, no, definitely not. I have to go, to be seen in town, just in case the Society is looking for me, but I'll loop around here in exactly fifteen minutes, okay? You'll be safe. I've scouted the location and there's no hint of any Society activity. If anything, their attention will be focused on me."

"Fifteen minutes, got it." She takes a deep breath and steps out of the car, closing the door behind her soundlessly. Errol raised a hand and sped away, leaving her to hurry up the shadowy driveway. The yard itself was very well maintained, with a neatly trimmed lawn and tidily rounded hedges that came no higher than her knees. The house was another matter, though. Large potted plants crowded the shadowy porch and all the windows were dark and shuttered. It was the kind of house that Seth would pretend was haunted. Why would he hide information about the Society of the Evening Star here, of all places? Why not just hide it in his room, or give it to her for safe-keeping?

Glancing at the street, she pushes all other thoughts out of her mind, and just tries to focus . Her fingers mechanically flip open the garage door keypad and enter the numbers seven, one, zero, and nine. She pauses, before she hits enter, though. Somewhere in the distance, a siren is sounding, probably a police car on the highway. Quickly, she shakes herself out of it and presses the enter button.

The door opens, almost too loudly, and she winces before she hurries inside. Thankfully, the garage is brightened by an automatic light. She hadn't thought to bring a flashlight, but hopefully, she won't need one at all. There's a dog bowl, covered in a layer of dust except for a few marks on the top, near the stoop of the door, and she steps over it, shivering slightly. Even though it's summer, there's a chill in the air tonight.

Kendra doesn't waste any time, walking through the house methodically, keeping an eye out for any frogs, or hiding places. It hadn't occurred to her to ask Errol how big the statue would be, but she had less than ten minutes to find it before he came back to the house to pick her up. She needed to find this. For Seth, for her mom and dad, for Errol, and for Trask.

Where would she hide something important? If Seth was here, where would he go? Kendra frowns, then retraces her steps. There had been a door in the entryway that she had skipped, because it had been locked, but she was out of options. She hadn't seen keys anywhere in the house, but something else had been out of place. Every object in the house had been covered with a thick layer of dust, nothing moved or out of place. The only place where the dust had been disturbed was the dog bowl in the garage, which meant…

It took her less than a minute to retrieve the key from beneath the dog bowl, but her hands were shaking so badly that it took three times to fit it in the lock. She opens the door quietly, though, and is about to step into the dark hall, but then she hears voices.

Her heart stutters in her chest, and she ducks into the hall without thinking, whirling around frantically. The centerpiece of the room is a large coffin, ornately designed. She closes her eyes and takes five deep breaths. In through her nose, out through her mouth. She couldn't panic, not now.

Five things she could see. There were dark tapestries on the wall. The floor was made of some sort of dark wood. The key, glinting dully in her hand. The door behind her. Seth, next to h- No. No, Seth wasn't here. He wasn't. He wasn't.

Her breath caught in her throat again as she forced her eyes open. She didn't remember closing them. She needed to find one more thing she could see, that was how this grounding exercise worked. She had come this far, and she needed to calm down, and get out, now. Her eyes fell on an oddly shaped statue, set on the table right next to the door.

She had walked right past it when she had come into the room, but it was dark green and looked somewhat like a frog.

Kendra reaches for it, and all hell breaks loose.

A/N: It took a while to update, sorry about that! D:

We're getting into the plot now, feel free to share your theories in the comments! I'm interested to know what you guys think...

I think I'm going to split the second book, at least, into multiple parts, just to make it easier to update. In the next part, we'll get to see Tanu, Vanessa, and Coulter!

Thanks for reading! Drop some kudos or a comment if you like the fic! :D

~S