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I'm not dead.” Tentatively Wendy rapped the window of the police car. It felt real. “Am I?”
    “I can see you,” Piotr said as he looked around the scene of the accident. “And it seems that they can see you. So I don't know, curly-haired girl.” He reached out and gently brushed away the copper-colored curl hanging in her eyes. “Maybe da , maybe net , but my best guess is net. Doesn't look like you're dead to me.”
    Wendy couldn't help but smile. “Your accent's funny.”
    Piotr pressed one hand flat against his chest in mock offense. “My accent is funny? What about yours, malen'kaya printsessa?”
    “What?”
    “Little princess,” he translated. “It is a very nice thing.”
    “Are you gonna take me away?” Her voice trembled.
    “What?” He seemed horrified at the suggestion. “Curly, no, no, net. I'd never do that.” Piotr knelt at her feet again and took her hands, gently rubbing her knuckles to soothe her. Again, where they touched, thin steam rose and drifted away. This time he didn't seem to notice.
    “It is…it is just my job, you understand? To make sure you aren't lost, that's all. Sometimes, after accidents like this, children are shocked and scared and they can become…confused. Sometimes they wander off and are never found. I stop that.”
    “But only if I'd died?”
    “Only if you'd died.” He squeezed her hands one last time and stepped back. “You're a nice kid, Curly. Stay here and they'll take you where you need to go.”
    “Are you an angel?”
    Piotr laughed and his fingers brushed his twisted scar. “Net , sorry to disappoint. I'm just a boy. But if I see one I'll certainly let them know you're on the lookout.”
    “That's okay.” Wendy hesitated and then, shyly, “Will I see you again?” She couldn't help the waver in her voice, but so far Piotr was the only one who seemed to care more about her than about cleaning up the mess on the highway.
    “Oh Curly, I hope not. Believe it or not, so do you.” He glanced around at the chaos and sighed. “It's not strange that you're seeing me now, da? I promise. It happens every now and then. The shock of an accident like this one, it can open up the mind. It'll go away. Just tell yourself you dreamed it. And don't whisper to adults about me.” He grimaced. “That never ends well.”
    “They'd think I was nuts,” Wendy said. She understood about adults. “Or in shock.”
    “Crazy as a cuckoo, Curly.” Piotr began walking away, fading rapidly into the mist, calling over his shoulder, “It's our little secret.” He turned on his heel and waved when he reached the end of the clearing. “Dasvidania, malen'kaya printsessa !”
    That had happened four years ago, and while Wendy never forgot Piotr's face, she never saw him again. Until tonight.
    A quiet trill from her bedside table drew Wendy away from her desk to snatch at her cell phone. She had a message.
    IKssBoiz&Grls: U in yet, Crouching-Ninja-Hidden-Badass?
    Eddie had waited up for her. Smirking, Wendy flopped on the bed to reply.
    EgonSpengler: Nah. I'z in ur roomz, haunting ur butt.
    IKssBoiz&Grls: Neat! What m I wearing?
    EgonSpengler: Ur birfday suit. :P
    IKssBoiz&Grls: Lucky guess. 4 real tho, how'd it go?
    EgonSpengler: : - (
    IKssBoiz&Grls: Aww. Nuthin?
    IKssBoiz&Grls: Helllooo?
    EgonSpengler: Sry. No sign of her. I had 2 reap 2 nosies tho & 2 others got away…
    IKssBoiz&Grls: & what else?
    EgonSpengler: Y u think there's more?
    IKssBoiz&Grls: Cuz I've known u 4evr.
    IKssBoiz&Grls: Sloths msg faster than u right now.
    IKssBoiz&Grls: Ur stalling.
    EgonSpengler: Fine. K, it's 2 weird. I saw teens.
    IKssBoiz&Grls: & that's weird, y?
    EgonSpengler: Been doin this 4 yrs & like 2nd teen EVAR.
    IKssBoiz&Grls: 4 real?
    EgonSpengler: Yah. 2 of ’em. B & G. Far away tho.
    IKssBoiz&Grls: Maybe they croaked 2gether. Romantic!
    EgonSpengler: Right, cuz I'd wanna be 16 4evr. X-(
    IKssBoiz&Grls: Live fast, die young, look hot 4 burial.
    EgonSpengler: Sicko. Not