Her mouth went dry. She found it impossible to swallow around the fear lodged in her throat, which quickly turned to anger. Wendy crumpled the notecard and tossed it in the garbage. Who would have sent such a horrible note? Was it meant as a threat or a warning? After trying to ignore the message, she went to her knees and dug it out of the trash and read it again.

Then a third time.

After the fourth read-through, she still couldn’t figure out who’d sent it. Her eyes drifted to Mr. Bernard typing away in his office. Could it be a warning from him?

Either way she had to decide what she was going to do with it.

She shivered and tossed it back into the wastebasket. Then she tied up the bag and went around the back of the building to the alley where she threw the whole bag into the large dumpster. As the lid slammed, it startled a flock of pigeons in the alley. The flapping filled her ears as they flew off, amplifying her terror.

Wendy was just about to exit the alley when a black Hummer pulled up and drove slowly past the bookstore. Just like the one she’d seen at school. Wendy pressed herself against the brick wall and watched it drive down the street and do a U-turn. It parked facing the bookstore. The engine turned off, but no one got out of the car. Hard to be sure with the glare of the sun, but she thought there was only one person in the vehicle.

Wendy stayed in the alley for five minutes and waited. The driver never moved the car or got out. It looked like the same car the Red Skulls had that night at her school. Peter didn’t trust them. Why were they here watching the store?

Were they back for her? Should she try to sneak inside and warn Mr. Bernard? She tried to shrug it off. It was probably just a suburban soccer mom in a really big car.

She decided to slip away, to see if they indeed followed her. A group of five teens walked noisily past the bookstore, and Wendy timed it so she slid right into the middle of the group and stayed with them, keeping her head down.

They were loud, and a few boys tossed a football, before they crossed the street and headed toward the park—the place she had been avoiding since her last encounter with the shadow. Wendy groaned.

Still, if they got close enough maybe she could walk by and see who was in the driver’s seat.

A blonde with a ponytail squealed as one of the boys tried to trip her. She took off chasing him. Wendy had to catch herself as she fell into another of the group. The boy plowed into her and tripped her up.

“Sorry!” the boy yelled and continued running backward.

They were now close enough to the Hummer that she could see inside, and the driver’s seat was empty. No one was in the car at all.

Wendy told herself she was being overly paranoid. She parted ways with the group as they headed into the park, and she re-crossed the street and headed back to the store.

The front door jangled as she entered, and she was so relieved about not being followed that she forgot her trepidation about the note. Until she put her hand into her jacket pocket and felt something inside.

Her hand shook as she pulled out another small card. This one had no envelope.

She could barely read the words as they blurred in front of her tear-filled eyes.

I’m watching you.

The next morning Wendy was outside washing the front window, when she noticed a dark-haired boy, about fourteen, staring into the store next door looking at a small brown bear. His striped shirt was ragged, and he looked tired and hungry. He gazed longingly at the toy in the window before walking off down the road.

A shadow flew up behind the boy, then peeled off and rushed for her.

She made a mad dash inside and slammed the door on the shadow and turned the bolt for good measure. The inky blackness floated on the other side of the pane before dropping down to slowly push under the door. A pool of black liquid ran in from under the door and Wendy used her jacket to try and block the miniscule gap.

It wasn’t working.

Panic took over and she ran to the back of the store. This was it. She was doomed. Any minute a morphling would appear and she would be—she couldn’t finish the terrifying thought.

Wendy hid behind the bookshelf and tried to find some way to defend herself. Chills ran up her arms and she turned just as the shadow appeared in front of her. She held up her hands to stop it, but the shadow pushed into her body. She threw her head back, willing the thing to get out of her. She gasped as an icy feeling spread through her and her eyes rolled back. That’s when she saw them. The visions.

The boy, kicking and flailing.

The Red Skulls, hauling him away into a room. Fear had control of her, her chest thrumming, irregular and dangerous.

What was happening to her?

Wendy looked up and was able to focus as the shade passed out of her body. It waited, floating just a few feet from her. Her breathing was erratic, but the shadow didn’t make another attempt to attack her. It beckoned for her to follow.

It flew a few steps then waited. She took a deep breath, and followed a few steps before stopping. They continued the strange pattern right to the front door. Wendy’s hand unlocked the door and flung it wide open. The shadow brushed past her out the door, heading in the direction the boy had gone.

Another shadow followed from across the street. She wasn’t sure what to make of the shadows, but she finally understood that they were trying to help her, to communicate with her.

Grabbing her phone out of her pocket, she checked her cell signal. Dead zone.

They were here, which meant a morphling was coming.

Wendy grabbed her backpack, put her head down, and tried to follow the young boy. He was already at a good distance. She shouldn’t be too obvious.

She had jogged for two blocks before she caught up to him. She slowed and continued walking, her head still pounding from those visions.

The images brought pain, fear, grief. She shoved the memories aside. Too painful.

The boy crossed into the park, and Wendy decided it was best if she circled around and came at him from the other direction. She waited at the crosswalk, and when the light turned green she walked into the road. Still pondering the image, like it or not.

The boy.

The name.

Suddenly, it came to her. She recognized him, but didn’t know from where. She froze in excitement. Right in the middle of the road.

“TEDDY!” Wendy cried.

A loud horn blasted to her right, followed by the screech of brakes.

Wendy raised her arms to protect herself from the imminent impact.

Something hit her in the waist, and she flew through the air. Crack! Pain knifed her skull as her head connected with the sidewalk.

Wendy blacked out.