Sam exchanged phone numbers with Quinn and arranged to meet with him later, then fell into step beside Gary for the walk back to campus. They walked in silence, but she could tell there was something he wanted to say. She also knew he wouldn't just spit it out, either. For all his facilitator skills, personal conversations were not his strong suit. He'd been getting better, though.

'How are you doing with all this?' she asked, taking his hand.

'I don't even know. It doesn't quite seem real. I keep waiting to wake up.'

'That's what you said after our first date. Remember? Your brother got you tickets and...'

'Told you I wanted to go with you because he knew I'd never ask you myself. I still can't believe you agreed.'

She shrugged. 'It was a cool band.' And to make sure he knew she was kidding, she nudged her shoulder against his. He only smiled a little. 'Hey, Gary, it's alright.

We can do this. You can do this. Grampa Gene thought so.'

'I just hope he's not putting his trust in the wrong person.'

Sam sighed. 'Have confidence, Gary. Trust yourself for a change. You have good instincts.'

'Right. Confidence.'

'Look, you handled that meeting really well. You convinced all of us that this is real. Do you think any of us would have believed this if Tucker had told us?'

Gary laughed. It was good to hear it. 'We might have...'

'No. We wouldn't. That's why your grampa reached out to you. He knew that, if anyone would be able to do this, you could.'

'I hope you're right.'

'Trust your instincts, Gary.' She pulled him to a stop and leaned up to kiss his cheek. 'They've not let you wrong yet.'

Sam met up with Quinn the following morning. She eyed the junkyard skeptically.

'Are you sure this is the right place?' Quinn asked.

'As sure as I can be,' Sam answered.

Quinn snatched the address they'd tracked down at the library from her hand and compared it to the plaque on the chainlink fence. 'No way this is right.'

Sam pushed open the gate. 'We'll never know if we don't check it out. Come on.'

They wandered through rows of old car doors, frames, and other neatly organized aisles of parts. For a junkyard, it was surprisingly well sorted.

'Did you hear that?' Quinn asked.

'Hear what?' Sam turned to look at him, but he'd wandered around a bend. A moment later, she heard him scream, and she ran after him, but there was no sign of him. 'Quinn?' She could hear him crying for help, which at least meant he was still alive, but what a moment ago had seemed ordered rows of junk was now a maze. Sam ran towards Quinn's yells, but her path was always blocked.

Finally she ran out into an open space, and nearly collided with Quinn and an older fellow. Quinn jogged behind the stranger and turned to look back the way he'd come. 'Call it off!' he cried.

'Call what off?'

Sam looked down the path Quinn had tumbled out of. There was nothing there. 'Dude, why don't you have a beware of dog sign?' Quinn panted.

The stranger frowned at him. 'Because I ain't got no dog,' he said, stepping away from Quinn to limp towards a ramshackle building. Sam didn't know Quinn well enough to guess if he was kidding or not. Better to reserve judgement; it's not as though she had much experience hunting for evil magic charms, and in the stories, it's always the non-believer who has the hardest time getting out.

'What can I do for you folks today?' the stranger asked.

'We're looking for somebody-'

The man laughed. 'Sorry. I go any piece of junk you'd care to name, but I am fresh out of bodies.'

'Her name is Donna Tilton?'

That got his attention. He turned around slowly, using an old fan as a walking stick. 'Why? Who are you?'

'We're part of a group. We're trying to track down all the original members.'

He looked them up and down. 'That'd be that Midnight Society then, eh?'

'Yeah! That's the one... Unless that's bad, in which case we never heard of it.'

Sam elbowed Quinn. 'What he means is, yes. Do you know where we can find Donna?'

With a sad shrug, he motioned for them to follow him. 'Step into my office. Sorry about the mess, it's the secretary's day off.' Looking around, his secretary either wasn't very good, or didn't really exist. Sam was leaning towards the latter as he moved piles of newspaper from a couple chairs so they could all sit down. 'I'm Vince,' he said, and Sam and Quinn introduced themselves, too.

'How did you know Donna?' Sam asked.

'Donna and I were high school sweethearts. She was the most beautiful girl I've ever known, and no one since has ever come close.'

Sam smiled. She wondered if, when he was this old, Gary would talk of her like this.

'So what happened? Did you get married?'

'I was beset by the worst string of bad luck. I was a star athlete, but I broke my leg. Got in a car accident. House caught fire, and though my family got out, I ended up in the hospital. And that was just the beginning, though for Donna and me, it was also the end. While I was in the hospital, she started seeing someone else.'

'What? While you were sick?' Quinn asked.

I can't say I blame her. Things were pretty bad.'

'Even so, that's cold.' He glanced at Sam. 'Would you do that to Gary?'

Sam glared at him, too offended to even respond. He shrugged.

'So where is Donna now?'

'She went for a drive with her new boyfriend. There was an accident. Only one of them made it out.'

The sadness that filled the Vince's eyes told Sam all she needed to know. Quinn probably knew, too, but he still asked. 'Please tell me it was Donna...' but, or course, the man couldn't do that.

'Thank you for your time, sir,' Sam said, standing.

But he wasn't done. 'This may sound odd to you kids, but it almost felt like there was an actual... Something following me around, trying to keep Donna'n me apart. Something... unnatural.'

Quinn was already at the door. He opened it and went to step out, but jumped back, pushing Sam backwards so that they landed on the floor just as a car rammed through the wall of the shack.

Vince started screaming. 'It's back! What more do you want from me! You've already ruined my life!'

'What's back?' Quinn asked, and Vince turned to them, his eyes wide and wild.

'The Silver Sight.'

Sam and Quinn shared a look. 'That's it! That's what we're looking for!'

Vince stepped away from them. 'I wouldn't recommend that, boy. That thing is evil. Everything that ever went wrong in my life was because of that thing.'

'We're trying to destroy it,' Sam said.

'Yeah, if it's still hurting people...' Quinn shrugged. 'Did Donna ever mention a record?'

'A broken record,' Sam added.

Vince hesitated, then pulled on a chain at his neck. At the end of it, he held a piece of black vinyl.

'That's it!' Quinn reached for it, but Vince pulled it away. 'We need that to find the Silver Sight.'

'I'm sorry, but this is all I have left of Donna's.' He clutched the record gently but securely in his callused fingers. 'Tell you what. When I was in the hospital, I drew a picture of Donna. You bring me that picture, I'll let you have the record.'

'Sure, great. Where is it?'

'It was taken from me. By the same man who stole Donna away. Laing Candle.'

'He was also a member of the Midnight Society, wasn't he?' Sam asked. She looked at Quinn. 'Gary had his name.'

'Right then. We'll be back with that picture before you know it... Just... Keep safe until we get back, okay?'

Vince tucked the record back into his shirt. 'I've made it this long, haven't I?'

Sam hoped that would work in his favour.