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Daniel waited Listened

"Someone else is--there’s someone else with a--a power," I said "And he never played with a Ouija board"

Daniel pondered this for a second "So the Ouija board was a red herring" He nodded sagely "H for the door

"The book" Daniel extended his hand and offered it toto dump New Theories and my notebooks in my roorabbed the phone and took it to ers He picked up on the second ring

"I was just about to call you--" he started

I cut hi"

Pause "What?"

I couldn’t bring ave ht"

"But I didn’t re one to me"

"Okay"

"But I just found it in Daniel’s room The cover had "

"What did you write?"

"‘Help ht to you--"

"No, that’s what I wrote, Noah ‘Help e"

Silence

"Yeah," I said shakily "Yeah"

"I’ll try to get a flight tonight--" He paused I could iht, his expression careful and cal not to show me hoorried he was But I could hear it in his voice "There are only two hts out of Providence today, and I won’t make either of theht I’ll be on it, Mara"

"I’--really" I couldn’t finish the sentence I struggled for words but nothing else cawould be okay It wasn’t, and he knew it "I’ll be there soon," he said "And John just checked in with no news Everything else is fine, so just stay with your faht?"

"Okay" I closed my eyes This wasn’t new I had blacked out before Lost time Had weird dreams This wasn’t new I could live with this

I could live with it if I didn’t think about it I changed the subject "You were going to call me?"

"Yes"

"Why?"

"I justht a tiny shed "The address you gave me, for Claire and Jude’s parents? I cross-referenced it hat Charles--the investigator--found and I went there to talk to the my breath "And?"

"There was a car in the driveway, so I knew someone was ho the bell A man opened the door and I asked if he was William Lowe He said, "Who?" I repeated myself, and he said his name was Asaf Ammar, which, obviously, is not at all the same"

"Well, we know the Lowes ht So I asked if he knehere William and Deborah Lowe lived and he said he’d never heard of theo, they were living in that house" Noah sed "He laughed and said that was impossible Unamused, I asked hiht the house froo"