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talk about everything with her. Seeing her made me realize how much I’d missed her.
    This was all happening so fast; it felt like my world had been pancake-flipped upside down. We settled on taking Lucy’s car, because it was better on gas mileage. Hugh didn’t want to fly because we didn’t have the extra money.
    We stopped by their house so they could pack a couple of bags, and then we were off on our journey. The roads, at least, were salted. A row of zombie snowmen, decorated with red pop, lined the area around the ‘Welcome to Hell’ sign.
    Theo and I sat in the back seat, not saying a word to each other. I don’t think either of us knew how to start.
    ###
    Golem’s brother was located in Georgia, so it was a long trip. We stopped a few times for fast food on the way. Theo and I both remained mute, as Lucy and Hugh exchanged banal conversation in the front seat. Theo was drawing the whole time in a notebook.
    I watched the landscape morph and blend from towns to fields and forests, then to strip malls and car dealerships with bright flags waving.
    A few times Theo or I would open our mouths or look at each other as if to speak, but neither of us got that far. I put my earphones in and listened to music, feeling my eyelids droop. I was still exhausted, the weight of all the recent revelations dragging me down.
    I shut my eyes and let the music carry me away.
    I dreamed of the burning tree again, glowing against a dark, unforgiving sky. The crisp leaves curled as the fire consumed them. At the base of the tree was a gaping hole.
    I felt someone shaking me awake. My face was mushed against the window glass.
    “We’re almost there,” Hugh said. It was dark, but outside the window I could make out lush greenery dusted lightly with snow. Vines snaked up trees that I couldn’t make out the tops of. “Does he live in the middle of the forest?”
    “Must be,” Lucy said, watching the GPS on the dash. “As long as Noah’s given us the right address.”
    “I double-checked it before I left,” Hugh said, but he didn’t sound too sure, either.
    Icy rain was plunking on the windshield. We drove down a series of dirt roads almost too narrow for more than one car. There was a clearing and the Golem’s brother’s house came into view.
    It was a small brick cottage, the exterior coated with dead ivy leaves, and a thin layer of white snow on the roof. It reminded me of the pig who built the brick house to keep out the wolf. The grass was tall and bushy, growing over the stone path. Swooping hills and valleys stretched out behind the house. A long porch wrapped around the front, held up by sagging posts. It looked like controlled chaos.
    “Maybe you should text Noah,” Lucy suggested, peering out of the windshield. “I can’t tell if anyone is even living here.”
    “There are lights on. And the car’s in the garage behind the house,” Hugh pointed out. “He said his brother was expecting us.”
    The four of us walked up the steps to the porch, not saying a word. Even though it was a little place, it was somehow intimidating. Standing beneath the little porch roof, we huddled together. Hugh pressed the bell and we heard it intone deep inside. I shifted around, feeling like a trespasser. Then we heard footsteps draw close, and the door creaked open on rusty hinges.
    A man appeared, looking like an older version of my Mr. Golem, with a longer, more lined face and salt and pepper hair. He had a priest’s uniform on, a square of white at the collar. The uniform struck me as surprising, and apparently it did to Hugh.
    “Are you Luke?” he asked. The priest appeared hesitant for a moment, like he was about to start something he didn’t want to.
    Finally, he nodded. “You’re Hugh. We met once, but it was a long time ago, during school.” The two men shook hands, and he turned his attention to Lucy, outstretching his hand. “And you’re Lucy Vore? A friend of ours?”
    Ours? I didn’t miss the friendly