Jaden asked me in surprise while tossing scraps to his dogs, Benny and Ted.
I was still chewing, a Hudew special sausage half-mashed in my mouth, but I swallowed and nodded. "Yeah. You interested?"
He lowered his head slightly, turned his face toward me, and puckered his lips. "Of course! Sneaking around in the dead of night for mysterious traces? That's right up my alley."
I knew it.
Of course Jaden would be interested. No, he was destined to be interested in things like this. Anything involving a capital-E Enigma? Hooked. Line. Sinker.
He dropped beside me on the bench, scratching Benny's ear like an afterthought. "You think he'll really show up tonight?"
I shrugged. "No idea. Just... there's not enough information. This is the only thread I can pull."
Jaden hesitated, twirling a blade of grass between his fingers. "It's just weird, right? Enigma stuff doesn't usually go missing. Not like... missing missing."
I nodded. "Exactly. But if it was a Beyonder? Then it's boring. The first time, it was just junk that got moved. Then Mrs. Sterilling stole it and dumped it in the yard."
"So, maybe... it's a different kind of mystery?" Jaden muttered, sounding more and more excited.
I sighed. And not even for effect. I really sighed.
Even Jaden, even simple, starry-eyed Jaden, was braver than me. Or maybe just dumber. Or maybe both. No! I didn't invite him because I'm scared. I did it for him. He loves this kind of stuff!
Anyway.
We filled up on sausages and other cheap snacks, then it was nearly evening. No rush. We killed time with a few rounds of Carter's Chess—pretty much regular chess, just with fancier rules and an annoying extra knight—and it wasn't until around eight that we finally left.
I'd suggested we bring a weapon. Just in case. So Jaden, whose dad collected relics and war memorabilia, dug out an old saber.
Empire-issue. Single edge. Long, narrow blade. Fancy handle guard. Pretty and sharp. But mostly for show these days, what with muskets being the new hotness.
Jaden who had muscles and actual martial arts training, carried it. Naturally.
He was also a small-town rich kid. Walking was beneath him. So the moment we stepped outside, he hailed a carriage like he was royalty, and I, poor commoner me, accepted the ride like a traitor to the peasant cause.
We stepped out at the edge of the villa grounds. While Jaden paid the driver, I took a look inside.
Pitch-dark.
No sunlight. No security lamps. Just a black pit.
The goosebumps came out before I could stop them.
Thank god I brought Jaden.
"Feron, let's go in!"
He'd finished paying. I nodded slowly, reached into my trench coat pocket for the key—
—and then I whipped around.
Something was wrong. Something.
My heart kicked up, like a startled rabbit. My eyes scanned the space behind us, then the rooftops, the fences. Empty. Nothing. Not a single living soul.
But I swear.
Someone was watching us.
Not a maybe. Not a maybe-kind-of-weird vibe. I felt it.
And I'm not crazy. I'm a Beyonder. My "spirit" stat is off the charts. Extra perception. Sensitivity. That gut-feeling-for-danger thing? Not just a trope. It's real. Real and currently screaming.
But who? Why? Thief? Stalker? Something... worse?
"Feron? Feron?" Jaden waved his hand in front of me. "You good?"
"Ah—yeah. Yeah, sorry," I stammered. My hand was trembling. I tried to shove the key into the lock.
Do I tell him?
No. No point. If there's someone out there and they are hostile, leaving Jaden alone would be even worse. If I go down, at least I can stall or scream or something. I've got a better chance of protecting him if he's with me.
Right?
Right.
Deep breath.
Click. The door opened.
We stepped into the villa's darkness.
"Let's light the road lamps first," I said. I wasn't going to talk about the watcher. Deal with the obvious problems first. Like how the shadows were practically swallowing the walls.
"Won't that scare off the Enigma?"
"The Sterllings always lit everything at night," I replied. "So if the Enigma is showing up, they'd be expecting it."
He nodded and hobbled off toward the lamps. Jaden had a bit of a limp. Old injury. He tried to hide it, but I always noticed. It slowed him down, made me twice as nervous.
Me? I practically ran to light the others.
When the yard was decently lit and no eldritch horrors popped out of the bushes, we stepped into the villa hall. We lit more lamps there.
"What now?" Jaden asked. He clearly expected me to be the expert.
I thought for a second. Then I said what no sane person should ever say.
"We check the whole place. Top to bottom. Again."
He just nodded. No complaints.
We grabbed a portable lamp from the entry room and started our sweep. Every nook and cranny. Just like I did earlier that day.
Same result: nothing.
No ghostly residue. No footprints. No slime trails. Nothing.
So we locked all the windows. Every last one. Double-checked the doors. Then we took two blankets from the servant's room, stepped outside, and huddled up in a corner near the villa wall.
Jaden sat on the quilt like we were camping in his backyard. I tossed mine down and slumped beside him.
"So," I said, "if anything does happen tonight, it has to come from outside. All the doors, windows—they're sealed. This way, we know for sure."
Jaden pulled his blanket tight and made a face. "Not how I imagined this going."
"You thought it'd be... what? A ritual?"
"Cooler. At least. Also—'waiting for a rabbit'? What the hell kind of phrase is that?"
I blinked. "You've never heard the story?"
Cue impromptu fable time. I told him the tale. The farmer, the rabbit, the stump.
Jaden stared.
"Moral of the story is: there's no free lunch," I concluded lamely.
Johnny was quiet a moment. Then muttered, "So why are we waiting for a rabbit?"
I had no answer. Just an awkward silence.
Science major, okay? Not a philosopher.
Eventually, the night wore on.
I stayed up. He didn't.
Jaden fell asleep on my lap, completely at ease. I stayed frozen, blanket tucked tight, spine aching.
Somehow... I didn't hate it.
He looked peaceful. Safe. Probably dreaming of mysterious capers and undead squirrels.
I patted my face, trying to stay alert. My eyelids felt like they were made of lead. But I made it.
I stayed awake all night.
The first light of morning crept over the villa walls. I didn't move. Not a muscle.
Jaden stirred. Yawned. Rubbed his eyes. "Feron?"
"Nothing," I murmured, barely able to focus. Dark circles under my eyes. Brain like porridge.
He sat up. Stretched. Somehow refreshed.
We went back inside the villa. Searched again.
Still nothing.
"So what now?" Jaden asked. "We gonna keep doing this? Can't just sit around all night every night."
I nodded. Slowly.
"Actually," I said, "I think we did get something."
He blinked. "We did?"
I stared down at my hands. Tired. Clammy.
"I didn't sleep. I thought. All night. I thought a lot."
He waited.
And then I said it:
"I don't think this was done by an Enigma."
And somehow, saying it out loud made it feel even worse.
Like I'd just opened a door I couldn't shut again.