Silver Creek there were three men came out of the west

his brow cocked as the stranger asked yet again the same question. strange. far from here, aditya said briefly, keeping it casual with a flick of his ear. we're just passing through. 

but 'around here' was vague enough that he didn't feel as if they were trespassing, so at least that was something.

do you know the way to the coast? he asked. he felt her eyes upon his collar and would have no answers for her even if she asked. he mostly tried to forget it was there. it only brought up murky memories, like snippets from a nightmare, of foreign spaces and scents. images he could make no sense of.

it was not there one day, and there the next. what had happened in-between. . .he wasn't sure.