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"Oh, 'take me to it,' my my!" Heather giggled, impersonating Clarity's deeper voice. "Aren't we official sounding today?"

"Shut your face, Freeson," Clarity replied with a rueful smile.

Heather cackled gleefully and gave Clarity a quick punch on the shoulder before skipping onward.

After ensuring that the bus would be making a return trip in an hour, the two friends had forsaken the wet bench and set off up the hill towards the gym. The evergreen woods stretched darkly ahead of them, pocked with the grand white buildings of Isaac Newton Community College, where Clarity and Heather were both currently freshmen.

Looking at the creamy facades surrounded by mist-laden trees, Clarity had to admit it felt something like home. More than "home" ever had, at least. Last year, Clarity hadn't been particularly interested in continuing her education (school had always been more trouble than it was worth, in her mind), but now that she was here, she had officially determined that it wasn't all that bad. She'd ended up with a small, tolerable apartment and a decent roommate, at least.

Who is currently dragging me to a supposed UFO crash site, Clarity reminded herself. Fantastic. We'll probably spend a good half an hour poking around in the woods before Heather admits defeat, after which I'll still have to finish that freaking physiology report. God, I hope I still have some coffee left…

Heather's voice interrupted Clarity's morose train of thought.

"So… you do believe me, right?" she said as she fell into step beside the other girl, trying to seem upbeat but clearly a bit nervous.

"Well… I mean, yeah, I believe you," Clarity responded, kicking a pinecone off the path in front of her. "I don't think you have any reason to lie about it. But… a UFO crash? That just seems so…"

"Sci-fi?" Heather suggested.

"Yeah!" Clarity exclaimed, rubbing her head. "I mean don't get me wrong, I love that stuff, but… I love it because it's not real. Sci-fi, fantasy, all those books and shows… There aren't actually ghosts and demons and aliens and vampires and all of that. It's not something people have to actually deal with, you know?"

Though you know part of you wishes it was.

"Oh, I get it, believe me," Heather said with a sage nod. "The difference is that I both acknowledge the absurdity of the stuff and dislike it."

"Well, come on, it's not that terrible," Clarity said with a frown.

"Yeah, no, see, this is what sci-fi means to me," Heather explained, darting to the side of the path and snatching a large stick. She then proceeded to wave it around wildly, an overly dramatic frown on her face and her eyes bulging out.

"I SHALL VANQUISH YOU PUNY EARHLINGS WITH MY STAFF OF POWER FROM THE DUNGEONS OF GARDOTH!"

"I think you're going more for basement nerd, there, Heather."

"SHAZAM!"

With a dramatic jab, as though shooting lightning from the end of her spear, she rushed at Clarity, who ducked out of the way with a yell.

"SON OF A-! Jeez, cool it, Loki, you'll take someone's eye out!"

"Cool it who now?"

Clarity remembered who she was talking to. "Never mind."

"I swear, you and your references," Heather drawled as they continued, tossing the stick away and draping an arm companionably around Clarity. "Y'know, maybe guys would ask you to dance at parties if you didn't keep alluding to nerdy movies and British TV shows and stuff like that instead of actually dancing."

"Oh, you think so?" Clarity intoned, raising an eyebrow. "Then god knows I'm gonna keep doing it."

Heather heaved a dramatic sigh.

"Besides, Heather, you know I can't dance."

"You mean won't dance."

"Okay, sure. Won't. The point is this. Me. Dancing. No way in hell." She frowned. "Actually, no, that would totally happen to me in hell. I take it back."

"Hah! Touché!" Heather laughed. "Oh, hey, we're almost there!"

The concrete path on which they walked had wended its way well into the forest at this point, and there were only a few buildings left between them and the edge of campus, beyond which the woods stretched into a mountainous area officially roped off as a regional park. It was meant to be a nice place for day hikes and camping and the like, but Clarity didn't think she'd ever heard of anyone actually going there before.

"You said you were by the gym, right?" she said, tucking her hands into the pockets of her dark corduroy jacket. "Because I'm pretty sure we just passed it."

"Yeah, we did, but I was waiting up here," Heather replied, jogging ahead to where the main path made a smooth turn and began to loop back towards the main campus. She stopped by a small sign that indicated the start of a smaller dirt trail, which disappeared into the trees. "Damien sometimes walks this way after basketball and takes the long way back to the parking lot."

"I've told you you're a stalker, right?" Clarity said with a smile. "Because you truly are a stalker."

"And proud of it!" declared Heather, grinning broadly.

"So what, are we going on the trail, then?" said Clarity, nodding at the winding pathway.

Heather snatched a pen from her pocket and began chewing it thoughtfully, gazing up at the sky.

"Well…" she said slowly. "I saw the thing come out from behind the clouds there, behind those two trees… and then come down over the roof… this way..."

She traced a broad, arching path through the air with the pen, excitement sparking in her eyes.

"So yeah, I'm thinking the trail is the best way to start," she concluded, flashing a smile at her friend and stuffing the pen back in her jeans. "Let's go!"

Without further ado she sprinted down the path like a horse from a starting gate.

"God, always with the running," Clarity muttered, taking off after her.

************************

"Freaking… nature," Heather growled murderously.

"I thought you liked nature," Clarity said, brushing aside the fronds of an enormous sword fern and stepping into a small clearing. "You had that whole flower girl thing going a few months back."

"I do like nature," Heather confirmed. "But not when I am covered in it."

The girls had left the path at least forty-five minutes ago, after Heather insisted that it was heading in the wrong direction, and both of them were now thoroughly familiar with just what the deep woods were like on a wet afternoon. More than they had ever wanted to be, in fact. Clarity was fairly certain they had left the boundaries of the college behind and were now on the edge of the regional park. Still, she'd been up for it. Much as she didn't like to admit it, some part of her really wanted to find whatever this thing was. Some part of her longed for it, even.

But after all the down-and-dirty searching, they'd found only an astonishingly large amount of nothing.

Clarity pulled out her cell phone, glancing at the numbers on it before shoving it back into her pocket with a sigh. "I think the bus just left," she informed Heather dully.

Heather groaned loudly and threw herself down on what she evidently thought was the driest part of a fallen log. Clarity heard a soft squishing sound as she sat and opted to remain standing.

"I'm sorry, Rit," Heather sighed, running her grimy hands through her equally grimy hair. "I really thought I'd seen something. But I'm starting to think that even if I did, we ain't finding it today."

"I've gotta admit, I'm starting to think similarly," Clarity confessed, trying to be sensitive even though she was dying to let out a hearty 'I told you so.' "Shall we call it quits?"

Heather exhaled sadly through her lips, sounding like a despondent pony. "Yeah, let's call it. I'll give you a ride home; I've got the car today."

"That'd be awesome," said Clarity, helping Heather to her feet and obligingly assisting her in cleaning off her jeans as best she could.

The two girls were just about to leave the clearing and begin the long and soggy trek back when Heather froze, listening.

"Do you hear that?" she breathed.

Clarity stopped as well, straining her ears and staring around the empty clearing.

Silent mist stared back.

She frowned.

"Um…Heather, I don't hea-"

Then it hit her.

Like a flood, like fire, like the coldest blizzard and the hottest burst of heat all at once, something came crashing into Clarity's mind with the force of a dying star, shattering all attempts at rational thought. A presence. A something. Here. Now. She staggered, her vision momentarily flashing red, colliding with Heather and stepping wildly into the center of the clearing, frantically looking, searching for the thing she knew was out there.

Heather's confused voice came to her from nearby.

"I just heard snapping twigs, that's all, it was probably a squirrel-!"

"Not… a squirrel…" Clarity gasped hoarsely, still probing the trees desperately with her failing eyes.

"Rit, are you okay? Cuz you're kinda freaking me out here!"

"There's something…" Clarity insisted, her voice rattling in her dry throat. "Something…!"

There… just behind those trees… was that...?

Him.

She froze. Not a muscle moved. Not a nerve twitched. Hardly a synapse fired.

He was bent down low, examining something on the ground, not threatening-looking at all, but Clarity wasn't fooled.

She knew at that moment that she was looking at something she must at all costs escape from. Something terrible, and powerful, and here.

The voice of her instincts, usually so calm and collected, was now utterly without reason or form. All rational thought had departed, and it had left only one clarion concept blazing through her being.

ENEMY.

"GET AWAY FROM US!" Clarity roared, dragging frantically at Heather's arm.

"Clarity, what are you doing!?" Heather shrilled.

The man looked up, and Clarity caught the glinting shape of a pair of glasses on his face. This observation, so very human in nature, brought some sense of self back into Clarity's burning mind, but the need to be gone was as urgent as ever.

She registered that Heather was looking at her as though she were insane.

Have to justify it somehow. She wouldn't understand. But we need to GO.

"I… I'm saving us from freaking stranger danger!" Clarity growled back, still attempting to make an escape. The blood was roaring in her ears, and her every instinct was clamoring for a seriously quick retreat.

"Oh, no, no, hang on!" the stranger in question called out, standing up. "I'm not interested in being dangerous! Well, not at the moment, at least!"

His voice was like a symphony played too loudly, cacophonous to hear and yet strangely complex and intriguing. Some part of Clarity wanted to trust that voice, but the louder part really, really didn't. Still, it was another very normal and human thing to perceive and understand a voice, and a bit more of Clarity's sense came creeping back. Astonished at what it discovered, it attempted to decipher and explain what was happening as best as it could.

Stranger danger. Strange man in the woods. There's a very good chance he could hurt us, regardless of what he says. Get Heather, and get gone.

"Yeah, SURE, buddy!" she snarled, managing to drag Heather a few steps back. "I bet you say that to all the hapless victims!"

"Rit, get off me," Heather moaned, shaking away her friend's hand and peering curiously through the trees at what could very well be a homicidal maniac.

DOES SHE WANT TO BECOME THE WORST KIND OF HEADLINE NEWS?

"Look, I promise, I'm not going to hurt you," said the man in comforting tones, picking his way through the trees towards them with his hands raised. "See? No weapons."

Sensing that Heather, in all of her idiotic curiosity, was not going to be moved any time soon, Clarity's panic switched smoothly from flight to fight. She tensed, glancing around for possible weapons, attempting to subtly position herself between her friend and her enemy.

"And really, look at me, I'm a skinny bloke, right?" the man continued, finally stepping out of the cloaking branches and into full view. "Not much good with the whole 'brute strength' idea."

Clarity had to admit that he seemed to be right there. Her eyes scanned him up and down like a barcode reader, assessing his potential as a threat. If she allowed the increasingly dominant logical part of her brain to be the judge, he seemed completely harmless. The man's beanpole frame was accented by the minutely striped burgundy suit he was wearing and the swishing lines of a brown wool coat that fanned around his ankles.

Kind of an awesome coat, she sourly admitted.

The spiky hair, the red Converse, and the glasses perched on his nose made him look more like an eccentric teacher than anything else. Still, Clarity had learned that if she could trust one thing in the entire world, it was her instincts, and they were all busy sounding alarm bells at the moment. Upon closer inspection she could see a sort of confidence in his step, as though he was well aware of everything around him, and his skinny body seemed full of energy, like a coiled spring. She was going with her inner nature on this one and opting for a healthy dose of suspicion.

Heather, on the other hand, was staring at the stranger with a familiar glassy look in her eyes and a shy sort of smile on her face.

Oh, dear god, Heather, PLEASE don't go all Buffy on me and fall for the evil guy with the cool coat, Clarity pleaded silently.

The raging, unthinking whatever-it-was that had swamped Clarity's normally unsinkable mind seemed to be dissipating somewhat, subsiding like the ocean after a tidal wave. Her instincts were settling down as the rest of her brain kicked back into action; she was still plenty freaked for the whole "I've seen way too many episodes of Law and Order for this not to make me nervous" reason, but the overpowering sense of cataclysmic danger had essentially vanished. She allowed herself to relax, folding her arms and glaring daggers at the stranger.

"Right… we okay, then?" the man said, smiling hesitantly as he lowered his hands. "Because honestly… if you're willing… I could really use some help right now."

Description
"Oh, 'take me to it,' my my!" Heather giggled, impersonating Clarity's deeper voice. "Aren't we official sounding today?"

"Shut your face, Freeson," Clarity replied with a rueful smile.

Heather cackled gleefully and gave Clarity a quick punch on the shoulder before skipping onward.

After ensuring that the bus would be making a return trip in an hour, the two friends had forsaken the wet bench and set off up the hill towards the gym. The evergreen woods stretched darkly ahead of them, pocked with the grand white buildings of Isaac Newton Community College, where Clarity and Heather were both currently freshmen.

Looking at the creamy facades surrounded by mist-laden trees, Clarity had to admit it felt something like home. More than "home" ever had, at least. Last year, Clarity hadn't been particularly interested in continuing her education (school had always been more trouble than it was worth, in her mind), but now that she was here, she had officially determined that it wasn't all that bad. She'd ended up with a small, tolerable apartment and a decent roommate, at least.

Who is currently dragging me to a supposed UFO crash site, Clarity reminded herself. Fantastic. We'll probably spend a good half an hour poking around in the woods before Heather admits defeat, after which I'll still have to finish that freaking physiology report. God, I hope I still have some coffee left…

Heather's voice interrupted Clarity's morose train of thought.

"So… you do believe me, right?" she said as she fell into step beside the other girl, trying to seem upbeat but clearly a bit nervous.

"Well… I mean, yeah, I believe you," Clarity responded, kicking a pinecone off the path in front of her. "I don't think you have any reason to lie about it. But… a UFO crash? That just seems so…"

"Sci-fi?" Heather suggested.

"Yeah!" Clarity exclaimed, rubbing her head. "I mean don't get me wrong, I love that stuff, but… I love it because it's not real. Sci-fi, fantasy, all those books and shows… There aren't actually ghosts and demons and aliens and vampires and all of that. It's not something people have to actually deal with, you know?"

Though you know part of you wishes it was.

"Oh, I get it, believe me," Heather said with a sage nod. "The difference is that I both acknowledge the absurdity of the stuff and dislike it."

"Well, come on, it's not that terrible," Clarity said with a frown.

"Yeah, no, see, this is what sci-fi means to me," Heather explained, darting to the side of the path and snatching a large stick. She then proceeded to wave it around wildly, an overly dramatic frown on her face and her eyes bulging out.

"I SHALL VANQUISH YOU PUNY EARHLINGS WITH MY STAFF OF POWER FROM THE DUNGEONS OF GARDOTH!"

"I think you're going more for basement nerd, there, Heather."

"SHAZAM!"

With a dramatic jab, as though shooting lightning from the end of her spear, she rushed at Clarity, who ducked out of the way with a yell.

"SON OF A-! Jeez, cool it, Loki, you'll take someone's eye out!"

"Cool it who now?"

Clarity remembered who she was talking to. "Never mind."

"I swear, you and your references," Heather drawled as they continued, tossing the stick away and draping an arm companionably around Clarity. "Y'know, maybe guys would ask you to dance at parties if you didn't keep alluding to nerdy movies and British TV shows and stuff like that instead of actually dancing."

"Oh, you think so?" Clarity intoned, raising an eyebrow. "Then god knows I'm gonna keep doing it."

Heather heaved a dramatic sigh.

"Besides, Heather, you know I can't dance."

"You mean won't dance."

"Okay, sure. Won't. The point is this. Me. Dancing. No way in hell." She frowned. "Actually, no, that would totally happen to me in hell. I take it back."

"Hah! Touché!" Heather laughed. "Oh, hey, we're almost there!"

The concrete path on which they walked had wended its way well into the forest at this point, and there were only a few buildings left between them and the edge of campus, beyond which the woods stretched into a mountainous area officially roped off as a regional park. It was meant to be a nice place for day hikes and camping and the like, but Clarity didn't think she'd ever heard of anyone actually going there before.

"You said you were by the gym, right?" she said, tucking her hands into the pockets of her dark corduroy jacket. "Because I'm pretty sure we just passed it."

"Yeah, we did, but I was waiting up here," Heather replied, jogging ahead to where the main path made a smooth turn and began to loop back towards the main campus. She stopped by a small sign that indicated the start of a smaller dirt trail, which disappeared into the trees. "Damien sometimes walks this way after basketball and takes the long way back to the parking lot."

"I've told you you're a stalker, right?" Clarity said with a smile. "Because you truly are a stalker."

"And proud of it!" declared Heather, grinning broadly.

"So what, are we going on the trail, then?" said Clarity, nodding at the winding pathway.

Heather snatched a pen from her pocket and began chewing it thoughtfully, gazing up at the sky.

"Well…" she said slowly. "I saw the thing come out from behind the clouds there, behind those two trees… and then come down over the roof… this way..."

She traced a broad, arching path through the air with the pen, excitement sparking in her eyes.

"So yeah, I'm thinking the trail is the best way to start," she concluded, flashing a smile at her friend and stuffing the pen back in her jeans. "Let's go!"

Without further ado she sprinted down the path like a horse from a starting gate.

"God, always with the running," Clarity muttered, taking off after her.

************************

"Freaking… nature," Heather growled murderously.

"I thought you liked nature," Clarity said, brushing aside the fronds of an enormous sword fern and stepping into a small clearing. "You had that whole flower girl thing going a few months back."

"I do like nature," Heather confirmed. "But not when I am covered in it."

The girls had left the path at least forty-five minutes ago, after Heather insisted that it was heading in the wrong direction, and both of them were now thoroughly familiar with just what the deep woods were like on a wet afternoon. More than they had ever wanted to be, in fact. Clarity was fairly certain they had left the boundaries of the college behind and were now on the edge of the regional park. Still, she'd been up for it. Much as she didn't like to admit it, some part of her really wanted to find whatever this thing was. Some part of her longed for it, even.

But after all the down-and-dirty searching, they'd found only an astonishingly large amount of nothing.

Clarity pulled out her cell phone, glancing at the numbers on it before shoving it back into her pocket with a sigh. "I think the bus just left," she informed Heather dully.

Heather groaned loudly and threw herself down on what she evidently thought was the driest part of a fallen log. Clarity heard a soft squishing sound as she sat and opted to remain standing.

"I'm sorry, Rit," Heather sighed, running her grimy hands through her equally grimy hair. "I really thought I'd seen something. But I'm starting to think that even if I did, we ain't finding it today."

"I've gotta admit, I'm starting to think similarly," Clarity confessed, trying to be sensitive even though she was dying to let out a hearty 'I told you so.' "Shall we call it quits?"

Heather exhaled sadly through her lips, sounding like a despondent pony. "Yeah, let's call it. I'll give you a ride home; I've got the car today."

"That'd be awesome," said Clarity, helping Heather to her feet and obligingly assisting her in cleaning off her jeans as best she could.

The two girls were just about to leave the clearing and begin the long and soggy trek back when Heather froze, listening.

"Do you hear that?" she breathed.

Clarity stopped as well, straining her ears and staring around the empty clearing.

Silent mist stared back.

She frowned.

"Um…Heather, I don't hea-"

Then it hit her.

Like a flood, like fire, like the coldest blizzard and the hottest burst of heat all at once, something came crashing into Clarity's mind with the force of a dying star, shattering all attempts at rational thought. A presence. A something. Here. Now. She staggered, her vision momentarily flashing red, colliding with Heather and stepping wildly into the center of the clearing, frantically looking, searching for the thing she knew was out there.

Heather's confused voice came to her from nearby.

"I just heard snapping twigs, that's all, it was probably a squirrel-!"

"Not… a squirrel…" Clarity gasped hoarsely, still probing the trees desperately with her failing eyes.

"Rit, are you okay? Cuz you're kinda freaking me out here!"

"There's something…" Clarity insisted, her voice rattling in her dry throat. "Something…!"

There… just behind those trees… was that...?

Him.

She froze. Not a muscle moved. Not a nerve twitched. Hardly a synapse fired.

He was bent down low, examining something on the ground, not threatening-looking at all, but Clarity wasn't fooled.

She knew at that moment that she was looking at something she must at all costs escape from. Something terrible, and powerful, and here.

The voice of her instincts, usually so calm and collected, was now utterly without reason or form. All rational thought had departed, and it had left only one clarion concept blazing through her being.

ENEMY.

"GET AWAY FROM US!" Clarity roared, dragging frantically at Heather's arm.

"Clarity, what are you doing!?" Heather shrilled.

The man looked up, and Clarity caught the glinting shape of a pair of glasses on his face. This observation, so very human in nature, brought some sense of self back into Clarity's burning mind, but the need to be gone was as urgent as ever.

She registered that Heather was looking at her as though she were insane.

Have to justify it somehow. She wouldn't understand. But we need to GO.

"I… I'm saving us from freaking stranger danger!" Clarity growled back, still attempting to make an escape. The blood was roaring in her ears, and her every instinct was clamoring for a seriously quick retreat.

"Oh, no, no, hang on!" the stranger in question called out, standing up. "I'm not interested in being dangerous! Well, not at the moment, at least!"

His voice was like a symphony played too loudly, cacophonous to hear and yet strangely complex and intriguing. Some part of Clarity wanted to trust that voice, but the louder part really, really didn't. Still, it was another very normal and human thing to perceive and understand a voice, and a bit more of Clarity's sense came creeping back. Astonished at what it discovered, it attempted to decipher and explain what was happening as best as it could.

Stranger danger. Strange man in the woods. There's a very good chance he could hurt us, regardless of what he says. Get Heather, and get gone.

"Yeah, SURE, buddy!" she snarled, managing to drag Heather a few steps back. "I bet you say that to all the hapless victims!"

"Rit, get off me," Heather moaned, shaking away her friend's hand and peering curiously through the trees at what could very well be a homicidal maniac.

DOES SHE WANT TO BECOME THE WORST KIND OF HEADLINE NEWS?

"Look, I promise, I'm not going to hurt you," said the man in comforting tones, picking his way through the trees towards them with his hands raised. "See? No weapons."

Sensing that Heather, in all of her idiotic curiosity, was not going to be moved any time soon, Clarity's panic switched smoothly from flight to fight. She tensed, glancing around for possible weapons, attempting to subtly position herself between her friend and her enemy.

"And really, look at me, I'm a skinny bloke, right?" the man continued, finally stepping out of the cloaking branches and into full view. "Not much good with the whole 'brute strength' idea."

Clarity had to admit that he seemed to be right there. Her eyes scanned him up and down like a barcode reader, assessing his potential as a threat. If she allowed the increasingly dominant logical part of her brain to be the judge, he seemed completely harmless. The man's beanpole frame was accented by the minutely striped burgundy suit he was wearing and the swishing lines of a brown wool coat that fanned around his ankles.

Kind of an awesome coat, she sourly admitted.

The spiky hair, the red Converse, and the glasses perched on his nose made him look more like an eccentric teacher than anything else. Still, Clarity had learned that if she could trust one thing in the entire world, it was her instincts, and they were all busy sounding alarm bells at the moment. Upon closer inspection she could see a sort of confidence in his step, as though he was well aware of everything around him, and his skinny body seemed full of energy, like a coiled spring. She was going with her inner nature on this one and opting for a healthy dose of suspicion.

Heather, on the other hand, was staring at the stranger with a familiar glassy look in her eyes and a shy sort of smile on her face.

Oh, dear god, Heather, PLEASE don't go all Buffy on me and fall for the evil guy with the cool coat, Clarity pleaded silently.

The raging, unthinking whatever-it-was that had swamped Clarity's normally unsinkable mind seemed to be dissipating somewhat, subsiding like the ocean after a tidal wave. Her instincts were settling down as the rest of her brain kicked back into action; she was still plenty freaked for the whole "I've seen way too many episodes of Law and Order for this not to make me nervous" reason, but the overpowering sense of cataclysmic danger had essentially vanished. She allowed herself to relax, folding her arms and glaring daggers at the stranger.

"Right… we okay, then?" the man said, smiling hesitantly as he lowered his hands. "Because honestly… if you're willing… I could really use some help right now."