Chapter 19

When Joshua burst into the dining room, close on Celestine's heels, he found Ava doing exactly what he'd predicted she was doing. She was dancing…sort of.

She was up on the stage with the animatronics, and she was throwing her hips back and forth, with Spriggy copying her moves.

Celestine's boot-clad feet thumped across the dining room floor. Joshua looked her way. Her head down, her shoulders still bowed inward, Celestine was going for the exit.

Joshua ran after her. "Celestine, wait!"

He caught up to her, and he grabbed her arm and yanked on it, forcing her to face him. Her cheeks were stained with tears. As if his fingers were getting burned, he let go of her.

"Talk to me," he said quietly.

Celestine wiped her face with the back of her hand. "I'm trying. But you won't listen."

Joshua grabbed his head to hold in the rage that wanted to come out. So, he then took a deep breath, then dropped his hands. "I need to know what happened that day. Don't you get it? Finding the person who took Sunny is the only thing that matters."

Celestine shook her head. She opened her mouth to say something, but closed it. She took a breath, exhaled, looked to her right, toward the children's drawings, and she frowned.

Joshua thought she looked like she badly wanted to confess something. But what?

Celestine's throat convulsed. She bit her lip. Then she managed, "You don't understand, do you?"

"Then explain it to me!"

Celestine's gaze locked on Joshua's. She set her jaw and took a deep breath. He was sure she was finally going to open up…but then she seemed to flip a switch. Every muscle in her body tensed. Her eyes were now focused past Joshua, shot wide open.

"What…?" Joshua began.

Celestine took a halting step toward the stage. Joshua turned to where she was headed.

On the stage, Ava was laughing euphorically. Flamer was holding her guitar out to Ava, inviting her to try playing it, and Ava eagerly accepted it. She flung the strap over her shoulder and positioned the guitar across her chest and belly.

Joshua frowned. An inner "red alert" alarm was going off. But why?

"Ava, don't!" Celestine screamed.

She was well past Joshua now, sprinting toward the stage. Instinctively, Joshua followed her.

As he took his first steps, his memory banks put an urgent rerun on his inner screen: Red hot and bursting with bright color, sparks from Flamer's guitar.

"AVA!" Joshua shouted. He held out a hand like he could make like a magician and stop what was about to happen.

But he wasn't a magician.

All he could do was watch as everything unfolded in snatches, like he was seeing a series of still photographs: A grinning Ava strumming a hand over the guitar fret. The grin disappearing. Ava's eyes drawn together in confusion. A burst of blinding white light. And Ava disappearing in the incandescence.

All Ava could see was the brightest of whites. It was light, blinding her. All she could hear was a high-pitched ringing. Like an alarm, only louder. It hurt her ears. She rubbed her eyes and pressed her hands to her ears.

And then the white light was gone. But it left teensy little stars in her eyes. She blinked.

Joshua's face and Celestine's and all the faces of the animatronics were inches from Ava's. All the faces above her looked weird…distorted…and really scared.

Ava shook her head, trying to stop the ringing in her ears. She blinked again. "What happened?" she asked her brother.

Before Joshua could answer, Celestine leaned in and hugged Ava…tight.

Then she let Ava go and leaned back. Ava saw her gaze flick to Joshua, who was still staring at Ava. He looked guilty. Like he had done something really bad. He still didn't answer Ava's question. But Celestine did.

"It was an accident, sweetheart," she said. "Just a silly accident."

Kricketot and Nymble chirped madly in the trees that surrounded Spriggy's parking lot. Joshua couldn't see either the trees or the Bug-type Pokémon. The pizzeria's exterior lights were out, and the moon had left the night sky. So had the stars. The sky looked like one broad dome of soot so thick that Joshua was finding it hard to remember what daytime felt like.

He and Celestine stood next to her SUV. They both looked toward the back seat of his car, where Ava was curled up, hugging her Finizen plush.

"Thank you," Joshua said to Celestine. He was leaving the pizzeria mid-shift. Celestine was going to cover for him.

Celestine shook off the gratitude. "Just go home, Josh. Take care of your sister."

Joshua nodded, but he didn't move. He pulled his gaze from Ava and he put it on Celestine. "What is it you're so afraid of?" he asked. Celestine shot him a look he couldn't read.

"In the storage room," he pressed on. "I saw your eyes. You looked so terrified."

Celestine's face instantly did the rock-hard thing again. The caring Celestine was gone. Enigmatic, grim, and brooding Celestine…were all back. She - they - stomped a foot. "You can do whatever the hell you want with your life," she flung at Joshua. "But if you ever bring Ava back here again, I will kill you!"

She squinted her eyes and leaned toward Joshua. He didn't need her to threaten to kill him to convince him that she was actually serious.

Celestine stormed back into Spriggy's. Joshua waited until the slam of the heavy metal door quieted the Kricketot and Nymble for an instant. As the Bug-type Pokémon chirped back into gear, Joshua got in his car.

"She looked really mad," Ava said from the back seat.

"She's fine."

"Why does everyone always look at you that way?"

Joshua turned the key into the ignition. The engine sputtered. "Everything is fine," he said unconvincingly.

Everything was not fine.

Joshua sat at his kitchen table and watched the first hint of dawn begin sneaking in through his window. From the intensity of the early light, he concluded that the clouds that had hid the moon during the night had moved off. He wished his own personal clouds would move on, too, but they appeared to be stuck over his head with superglue. Not even his soul-flogging push-ups had managed to clear his stormy skies.

The sounds of Ava's snores, a little louder than usual, reached him from her room.

Joshua couldn't believe he was about to do what he was about to do. But what choice did he have? Celestine was right. He couldn't take Ava back to Spriggy's.

Letting out a heavy sigh, and feeling like he was going to vomit, he lifted his phone and punched in a number. As soon as he heard the click on the other end of the line, he spoke. He had to while he still had the stomach for it.

"Hey, it's Joshua," he said. "I need your help."

As soon as he said those words, he immediately regretted them.

Two hours later, and he still hated the choice he'd made. But he was trying to make the best of it.

The sun was full-out now. It intruded into the kitchen, as if it was trying to convince Joshua he was doing the right thing.

Checking the pancakes on the griddle, he tarte some bacon in a cast-iron skillet. The sweet and savory smells came together and attempted to join with the sun's "all is well" message.

Joshua wasn't buying it. Deliberately keeping his back to the kitchen table, because he couldn't look at what he'd done, he kept cooking anyway. He finished everything and stuck it in the oven to keep warm. Then he took a deep breath and went to wake up Ava.

Ava opened her eyes and saw her brother sitting at the edge of her bed. Yawning, she grinned at him. Then she noticed what her nose was telling her.

"Is that bacon?!" she asked.

Cool. They didn't usually have bacon. And Ava loved bacon.

"Why don't you get dressed and come to the kitchen when you're ready," Joshua said. "There's something we need to talk about."

Ava frowned. Uh-oh. She thought. Was he bribing her with bacon? Then she shrugged. So what? It was bacon.

Joshua left the room, and Ava jumped out of bed. Popping into the bathroom, she did all the usual morning stuff, then she went back to her room and dressed in her orange corduroy overalls with a gold shirt because she was sure it was going to be a gold-star day. Then she skipped down the hall to get her bacon.

"I'm ready for-"

Ava stopped mid-sentence when she saw who was sitting at the kitchen table. The bacon was indeed a bribe. But not a big enough one.

"There's my favorite little girl," Ava's Aunt Marla said.

Ava tried to make her aunt…with her stupid short hair and her dumb old pale blue pantsuit and the little Deino cradled in her lap…disappear with laser eyes. Ava wrinkled her nose, choking on her aunt's stupid grapefruit-scented perfume.

"Ava, come sit down," Joshua said.

Ava turned the laser eyes on Joshua. But she couldn't hold the laser. Her hate turned to hurt. "What did you do?" she asked her brother. Ava could tell Joshua knew she was upset. But he was pretending he didn't.

"Come sit down," he said again. "We can talk."

Ava shook her head slowly. No way. She started retreating from the kitchen, backing down the hall.

"I know what you're thinking," Joshua said pleadingly. "But I promise you, you're wrong. Please, Ava, let's just talk."

Ava looked at her aunt, then she returned her gaze to Joshua. His face looked like he was trying to eat a pot of brussels sprouts. No, his face looked like he couldn't stand to be him.

Then, Ava turned and ran back to her room. As she went in and slammed the door, she heard her aunt say, "I think that went well."

Putting her back to her door, Ava closed her eyes and clutched her hair in both hands. Then she put her hands over her mouth to stop a scream from coming out. Tears took over her eyes and forced them open. She couldn't stop the tears from pouring down her cheeks, but she rubbed them away as fast as they flowed.

She thought her brother truly cared for her. She thought they had a special connection with each other, the kind of connection that siblings share. But after this, how could she ever trust him again? What was she supposed to do now?

I'll…I'll miss you.

Her gaze then landed on her desk…and the drawings on them. She slowly went over to her desk and sat down in her chair.

Pulling open a desk drawer, she dug around in it and found the biggest, blackest marker she had. Then she reached for the stack of her most recent drawings. Fisting the marker, she started to black out every image of her brother that she could find. As conflicted as she was doing this, she couldn't help but take a sense of satisfaction in it.

Joshua couldn't look at his aunt as he grabbed his keys and pulled on his coat.

"She reminds me of you," Marla said. "Always with the temper."

Joshua shot a look at her, figuring she was trying to pick a fight. He was surprised when he found her looking at him with a softer-than-normal expression. If he hadn't known better, he might have believed she was looking at him with fondness. No, it couldn't be fondness. It wasn't a part of Marla's character.

"When she calms down," Joshua said, "tell her I'm sorry. And I'll be back soon."

"When is soon, exactly? You've been a little fuzzy with the details." There was the snarky Aunt Marla that Joshua knew…and hated.

"Soon," he said.

Aunt Marla shooed him away. "Go, then."

He turned toward the door.

"But Josh," Marla said to his back, "there's a larger conversation that still needs to happen here. When you get back, you and I are going to talk." She picked up a piece of bacon and nibbled on it, breaking off a piece of it to her Deino.

The image of a Mandibuzz chewing on carrion flashed through Joshua's head. He practically ran from his house.

Clutching the white bag that the pharmacist had put Joshua's refilled prescription in, Joshua stalked toward Spriggy's entrance doors. The elderly druggist's judgmental advice - "You know what works for me? A warm glass of milk with chamomile and honey." - replayed in Joshua's head as he went.

Right back at you, Joshua thought now. Asshole.

A Rookidee let out a long cackle. Joshua looked up into the trees around Spriggy's. He couldn't find the Rookidee, but his gaze landed on the wood cutout of Spriggy FazSprig's head. The Sprigatito's grin seemed to be jeering at Joshua.

"Stuff it," Joshua said. He let himself inside the pizzeria and went directly to the office. There, he wasted no time. He plopped in his desk chair, set up his cassette player, and dry-swallowed three of the white pills from the bottle he'd pulled from the white bag. He locked his gaze on the poster opposite the desk.

Maybe because he was so determined, or maybe because he hadn't slept well in days, the effect of Joshua's routine was immediate. His vision blurred as he listened to the sound of the wind and the trees coming from the cassette. His eyelids fluttered closed.

The sunlight was warm on Joshua's shoulders as he walked forward. The breeze picked up a lock of his hair, and tickled his cheek.

He heard laughter, and he looked toward it. Stunned, he stared at his family, all gathered by the picnic table.

His mom was setting up the table for lunch. His dad stood next to her; spinning and overjoyed Sunny around like a spiraling airplane. Sunny's laughter filled the campsite.

"Alright," Joshua's mom said, "enough games, you two!"

Joshua's mouth hung open as he watched his dad swoop toward the picnic table with Sunny. "Emergency landing!" he shouted. He made a whooshing sound as he swept Sunny's spread-out body over the table. He plunked the boy onto the table with a flourish. Then he looked toward Joshua.

"Hey, buddy," he called out.

"Don't just stand there," his mom added, "come and dig in."

Joshua's parents settled on the table's benches. Sunny climbed off the tabletop and joined them. Then the boy turned and gave Joshua the biggest, most adorable happy-kid smile Joshua had ever 's eyes were now awash in tears.

His mom looked his way. "Sweetie, what's wrong?"

Joshua wiped his eyes and cleared his throat. "This isn't…" He stumbled back from the picnic table. "This…isn't the way it happened." He shook his head. "This isn't real."

Joshua's parents, and Sunny, exchanged confused glances.

"But it could be." The voice was coming from behind Joshua. It was a child's voice.

Joshua turned to find the blonde girl, and the other four children, standing behind him. He shook his head again, this time more vehemently. He bit his lip. His hands were clenched into fists.

"What is this?" he asked the blonde girl. "This isn't what I asked for."

The blonde girl cocked her head. "No," she said, "but it's what you want."

More head-shaking from Joshua. He tried to erase the entire scene by rejecting it. "I want to find-" he began.

"You're lying." the blonde girl interrupted. And Joshua looked at the sand beneath his feet.

"You want to save Sunny," the girl continued. "That's really why you're here."

Joshua tried another head-shake, but it was a feeble one.

"You want to change what happened." the girl went on. "You want to go back."

Joshua threw up a hand as if to shield himself from the girl's words. "That's not possible," he said. "He's gone. They're all gone."

"Really?" The girl pointed past him.

Even though he didn't want to, Joshua turned around and looked at his family. They stared back at him with concern and compassion…and hope.

Sunny scrambled off the wooden bench and dashed toward Joshua, who dropped to his knees. He was eye-to-eye with his little brother.

"You can have this dream every night," the blonde girl said. "You can be together, like before." The girl's voice dropped to a near-whisper. "You can change what happened."

Joshua's head-shakes have turned into a tentative nod. His tears have escaped his eyes; rivulets sluicing down his cheeks. He looked at the blonde girl.

"How…?"

"You said we could have anything we wanted," the blonde girl said. "It's only fair." She stepped up closer to Joshua and leaned in. Joshua expected to feel the girl's warmth, but a puff of dully air touched his ear as the girl said in a gentle whisper…

"We want Ava."

Joshua wiped at his tears, his face twisted. He struggled to grasp what the girl meant. Then, his eyes widened, and he understood.

"Ava," he whispered.

Sunny clutched Joshua's hand. "They love her, Josh," he said. "And she loves them."

Joshua looked at Sunny. Mucous ran from his nostrils, joining his tears. He sniffed. But then, he realized he wasn't looking at Sunny anymore. Sunny wasn't the one holding his hand anymore. Instead, it was...something else. He saw a large skinny figure with a body of felt. It resembled some kind of Pokémon. A Banette. It was tall, with white stripes on its arms and legs, and streaming tears down its eyes. Its appendages appeared to be held by strings, like it was some sort of giant puppet. What was this thing? And why did it have Sunny's voice?

"It's for the best, buddy," his dad called from the picnic table. "It really is." Joshua looked over at his dad, who smiled reassuringly. Even as wracked as he was, Joshua couldn't help but return the smile.

His mom chimed in. "You've seen her with them. You've seen how happy she is." Joshua looked over at his mom. She was tearing up, too. "Doesn't she deserve a real family?" his mom asked as she got up and came over to kneel next to Joshua. She used her thumb to wipe tears from his cheeks. "It's time to let her go, sweetheart," she said. "You were never the right person to take care of her."

Now, Joshua's nod was empathetic. He wasn't just nodding because he wanted to believe her. He did believe her. He agreed with what he had heard. He looked from his mom to his dad to Sunny. And his conviction solidified.

"Okay," he said, nodding one last time. "Yes."

The blonde girl lifted one side of her mouth in a small, satisfied smile.

Joshua looked again at his brother. His gaze landed on the Banette's porcelain face. Joshua reached out to touch it, but his hand stopped mid-motion.

The sun's spotlight suddenly glared in his eyes, and he felt its heat. It catapulted him out of the beach into a memory. His vision turned inward. He saw his sleeping sister in his mind. He knew he was sitting on the side of her bed. He saw his hand reach out and brush a lock of her hair from her face. He realized he was in a memory.

But then the memory became something else. It became more of a vision, something Joshua wanted to experience instead of something he experienced in the past.

In Joshua's mind, Ava's eyes opened. She was groggy, but she smiled at him. "You're home," she said.

In his mind, he smiled at his sister. "I'm home," he said.

The picture in his mind disintegrated. And he was back on the beach. The sun disappeared behind a cloud. In the instant shade, Joshua stared at the Banette. He realized his hand was still touching its face. He pulled his hand back.

With that motion, it seemed like a veil dropped away. The Banette's face was now startlingly pale. Too pale. And its eyes were wrong. The adorable look was gone from its eyes. They've turned to deep wells of hollowness.

Joshua staggered to his feet. "Wait. This isn't-"

He looked at his parents. They too were pale now. They too had bottomless eyes.

Joshua returned to head-shaking. "This is wrong," he said. "I'm sorry, but I don't want this. Do you hear me? I don't want it!"

He spun around to confront the blonde girl, but the girl, and the other children…were gone. Joshua scanned the beach, but couldn't find them. He turned back to his-

His family was gone, too. And so was the Banette. Everyone had vanished. He was completely alone.

He heard the wind pick up, blowing into his ears. Through the sounds of the wind, a chorus of whispers started to build in volume. The content of the whispers was indistinct at first. It was just a susurration, a white noise. But then the whispers began to separate into something clear.

"Ava!" the whispers said.

Joshua turned in a circle. It was the children, it had to be. Their voices were taunting him. He turned and he turned, trying to find them.

"Listen to me!" he shouted. "You stay away from her! You leave Ava alone!"

The whispers grew louder. "Ava. Ava. Ava."

"STAY AWAY FROM MY SISTER!" Joshua screamed.

The whispers stopped, replaced by a giggle. Then a rush of heavy thundering footsteps.

Joshua whirled toward the sound. All he saw was a blur of motion. A flash of brown fur. And then a long, sharp hook arced toward him. A bolt of heat scored into his chest. Gasping, he threw up a hand toward his chest. Before he could get in there, he saw another blur. This time, it was a green blur with a top hat. The feeling of claws being raked across his back.

He cried out and floundered in a circle. He didn't see anything but palm trees.

A flurry of motion out of his range of vision preceded another lava flow of pain. This one coursed through his left calf. He felt his legs go out from under him. He tried to curl into a fetal position, but the scourging pain stopped him. The strikes landed too fast for him to defend himself. His clothes were now being shredded.

He fell back, lying prone in the sand. Above him, the wind picked up. He heard a whir, low and soft.

He looked up into the sky, his vision hazy.

The tone of the whirring changed. It no longer sounded like wind. It sounded…mechanical.

His eyelids fluttered, giving into the pain, but when the grinding, metal-on-metal sound grew even louder, his eyes bugged open.

COME FIND ME.