Flames At Midnight

05 | quentin miller

"Great idea, Grace," Dillon said.

She gave him a pointed look, and he grinned in response.

While Dillon seemed amused to have her around, Kya still looked uncertain about it. When we texted earlier that day, Kya was surprised to hear Grace was coming. She believed that the less people who were involved in whatever was happening, the better.

She tried to dissuade Grace from coming, but it was pointless. Grace would never let me go off in the middle of the night with two strangers, especially after what happened two nights ago.

Porter, on the other hand, hadn't taken much convincing.

When we told him where we were going, he looked at us like we were crazy and then went to bed.

Maybe he had the right idea, though. After we crossed off two more parks from our list, it began to feel hopeless. We were burning through all the locations we had. The excitement I had felt when we first started planning this night was gone. It seemed almost impossible that we'd find what we were looking for.

And I didn't want to be the one who said it, but we had no way of knowing that we were even in the right state, let alone the right country.

"I wish I had a better idea of where it was. This could take forever," I said.

Kya didn't look disappointed though. "This wouldn't nearly be as fun if we could find it so quickly, right? Where to next?"

Grace studied the map for a moment before folding it up and stuffing it into her pocket. "Actually, let's try something else."

I couldn't help but look at her with surprise. Spontaneity was a rare thing for Grace.

"It's only a fifteen minute drive from here. There's a large cluster of trees and it's on the edge of town," she added.

"Let's give it a try."

We climbed back into the car and Dillon blasted the heat. I felt my limbs, stiff from the cold, loosen up as the warm air filled the car. The temperature was dropping as the hours passed.

At the next stop, I frowned as I stepped out of the car. A massive line of trees stretched out in front of us. "This is not a park, Grace. This is the edge of the woods."

"I know, but it didn't seem like we were making any progress with the parks. There are lots of trees here, which is what we're looking for, right? I was thinking that it was weird that something was buried at a park, so I figured we would give the woods a try," she explained.

"I totally agree with you," Dillon said. So far, he's agreed with everything she's said. She could suggest that we jump off a cliff for a shortcut, and he'd be the first one over the edge. Dillon popped the trunk and retrieved a flashlight. "You have the best ideas."

"Tone it down, Casanova," she said flatly.

"Fine. We'll go in. Grace, stay close," I said.

Dillon took the lead with Kya at his side. Grace and I trailed behind them, following the beam from the flashlight.

It was pitch black inside the woods. A thick canopy of branches blocked out all traces of moonlight. Crickets were chirping and an owl hooted in the distance. We could also hear the sound of the wind rustling through the trees.

Ahead of us, Dillon offered to hold Kya's hand if she was afraid, and she graciously declined. Then he tried to make Grace the same offer, but before he could finish his sentence, she cut him off with, "Not going to happen, bud."