"Where should we go, Talis Man?" I pull my arm away from his grip. "Because I'm surely never going to wherever Levon, his girlfriend, and creepy little Siegrist are going and I most definitely do not want to go back to The Host. And I don't particularly want to stay in the forest with you."

His eyes narrow. He drops the hood off his head. His hair is long and wild but the top is swiped into a bun. It takes me aback. My charm has a man bun? Viking hair? I guess I was so used to staring at my charm, I never thought about what his hair looked like.

"Wherever you decide to go," he says, voice low. "I go."

My stomach gurgles. "Would you go to town with me so I can get some food?"

He looks around and says, "Did The Host not speak with you?”

“The Host? You mean Levon?”

He grits his teeth. “I mean The Host.”

“No,” I say, “Levon told me some rules and stuff.”

“And you spoke of me?”

I nod and peer around him. Ah, the beautiful call of the Siren. I’d follow her beautiful sound to the moon and back but before I get to listen to another note, he moves to stand in front of me again.

He says, “You should not have told him of me.”

“How could I possibly know that?” I throw my hands up. "No one has told me anything. I have these letters to read. Levon told me something about Leavers and Protectors. Something about saving my mom. That you," I gesture to him, "are my charm but now you're real." I pace back and forth. "What the hell is going on?"

"Lyla?" His voice vibrates through my chest. It makes me stop. Completely, totally stop. "I cannot come with you into the Lifeworld. I can only come with you to The Host and to the Otherworld. I can take you to food but I cannot take you if you head into the Lifeworld," he says. "But if you do not listen to me, I cannot stop you. Know this, do not speak to anyone. Levon should have told you this rule." He touches my arm again but I pull it back. “Stay with me and I will take you-"

The singing, it's back.

"This," he says, pushing me towards the wood line. "This is from a Hiyulah. They are evil, dark things that want you." He pushes me again, harder. "Run, Lyla."

So I do, with Talis behind me. We break through the brush and the limbs which scratch against my arms until sunlight bursts through the canopy and opens into the yard. I stop right as the grass swipes against my legs. The driveway and my g-rents house are bathed in the light from the cloudless sky. And for a moment, I forget Talis is with me but the moment is fleeting.

"When you turn from the Siren," he says, jerking me back into the surreal reality. "You cannot hear it. So when the Siren sings you must turn from it."

I sigh. "Okay."

The breeze whips around my face. So many thoughts sprint through my mind while I trudge through the yard to the porch. The porch swing is brand new. It looks unreal against the peeling-paint-porch backdrop. What else looks unreal, unnatural? I'm not sure anymore. Sirens are real. Levon is with his Protector and apparently his girlfriend, Tessa. My grandparents are on vacation, somehow, though they are so ancient, I don’t know how they could manage do it. Their house is terrifying. Talis Man is behind me. He's real. Unnatural but real.

He's real.

So this is all real then?

I'm so hungry and something about expired cereal and stale coffee does not sound good. With that thought, I head inside the house and grab Levon's keys on the table. Getting some fresh air, far away from this place, or at least to that restaurant bar thing mom and Levon talked about, might help me sort through these thoughts. It’s just too much at once, you know? Way too much. And, if I leave this house, I might find that my head clears and everything goes back to normal, and if that’s the case, I’ll call the fire department to come here and check the carbon monoxide levels because maybe all of this is from poisoned air leaching from the ground. But, also, maybe a dose of waffle fries and peanuts will help me decide what’s real and what’s not.

When I turn back towards the door, Talis catches my eye. He stands at the open front door, eyeing the inside of the house.

"You can come in," I say.

He shakes his head. The fur draped over his shoulders shift with the movement.

"Alright, then."

As I head back to him, one more thing catches my eye. It's the basement door. It's cracked open. Just an inch. But I know for a fact I shut it this morning. I reach out to shut it again but the cool wind coming from it stops my breath.

"Lyla, you must not head to the Lifeworld," Talis' voice drifts to me. "I need to take you..."

I can't focus on what he's saying. I can only focus on the basement door. I can't even bring myself to shut it so I scurry to Talis. He moves out of the way and shuts the door behind us and then I jog to the car and slide into the driver’s seat.

"Where are you going?" he asks.

He stands in front of the car. When I look at him, I don’t remember him instantly like Levon said I would. I see colors and feel emotions but I don’t know exactly the colors I see each time and I don’t understand the emotions and ultimately, I don’t recognize him. I have no clue who he is.

He glances towards the trees. "I can take you somewhere to eat but you must not go in to town."

I roll the window down. "Why?"

He skulks over to my window and leans in. "You are no longer hidden from the Hiyulahs. They know exactly who you are and therefore, you are not safe anywhere especially places I cannot be."

I sigh. Loud. Louder than Levon sighs at me. "You know, this is all so ridiculous. It's hard to believe anything that's going on. I mean, it's possible this place is one of those carbon monoxide hot spot things and the house is full of it and all this is a hallucination." I start the car and talk louder. Like too loud but I think it gets my point across because Talis rolls his eyes. "So I might as well drive into town and get some fresh air. And you know," I say, tilting my head, "if I have more of these hallucinations while I'm there, I'll concede to all this being real. Give in, if you will."

"You are not hallucinating." His fingers turn white with his tight grip on the window. “The Siren is only one of the Hiyulahs searching for you and she has found you, somehow. There will be more Hiyulahs which are much worse than her. If you leave, you will be found no matter if you are surrounded by Protectors.”

"Okay, Talis Man," I say. "Actually, I'm supposed to ask you, is Talis Man okay for your name? Also, why don't you already have a name?"

He stares at me.

"So is that a yes?"

He takes a deep breath in and says, "That is fine."

"Fine?" I say. Dozens of hand-braided bracelets line his arm. The one he touches has a little golden bird attached to it. “Wowee, I like the décor you have there. Anyways, if you’ll excuse me.”

Talis fidgets with the bird and mumbles, “Tradition is everything.”

Then he pulls his hands back as I start to turn the car around. "Fine?" I mutter to myself. I head down the driveway. In the rearview mirror, Talis watches my car leave. He stands tall and flips his bear-face hood over his head. What else could he possibly mean by fine? Is there a better name? I turn right at the end of the driveway and head into Jamestown. Is my hallucination so meta that I actually already know his name and so does he but it's me dreaming Talis Man so of course Talis Man would say fine because it's all me anyways? Ugh. My head hurts as I try to parse the thoughts a part but then my mouth salivates as the restaurant comes into sight. I park and walk inside while I call my mom.

Ring, ring. Voicemail, done. Where in the hell is she?

The lighting is dim and takes a moment for my eyes to adjust. Apparently, this place lets you smoke inside still. I pass a corner table with a few mountain-looking men sitting at it with cigarettes on their lips. A few more people are scattered throughout. A few eyes on me. But no big deal. No monsters anywhere. I ignore them as I'm so great at it. Not really. They give me the creeps. The bar is empty so that's where I sit. A short and plump older lady wipes the counter down with an already dirty rag. She takes a few steps towards me and slings the rag over her shoulder. A strip of water flings through the air and hits me on my shoulder. She looks me over, while her nametag Kathy dangles on her shirt.

"Heard you were comin’ ‘round here,” she says, as she fidgets with her charm bracelet.

“Because of Levon?”

She flops the rag on the counter in front of me. The smell of perpetual wet and dirty rag fills the air.

“I can't serve ya, youngin'."

"Oh, I was just wanting some kind of food or something."

“This isn’t the place to eat, for ya but here ya’s something.” She bends under the bar counter and pulls a basket out. Ah. Cold fries and peanuts.

"Thanks," I say.

The fries are perfectly salted, though cold. But I don’t really mind. The bite reminds me, I’m hungry. And tired. And confused. I just, how in the world does mom or Levon for that matter, expect me to believe all this?