Headlights rake across Brady square as a patrol car rolls to a stop. The ash smear on the pavement gleams white for one thin second, then goes dull again.
Deputy Miller gets out slow, one hand near his holster, eyes darting from Elias to Flagg to the dead, quiet center of the square.
Deputy Miller
Evening. Somebody tell me why it feels like the town just swallowed its own voice.
Elias shifts back toward the town hall steps, pale and strained. The Child stays very still, watching the deputy and the ash without blinking.
Deputy Miller
And what is that on the ground? I want a plain answer, not a story.
Miller leans in just enough to see the residue, then stops himself before crossing the wrong line. His fingers tighten once on the holster, but he does not draw.
✓ Quest Accepted
Turn Deputy Miller away from the ash smear
“Step between Miller and the ash to block his view.”
SUCCESS (Good Agility, rolled -2)
Flagg slides into Miller’s line of sight, planting himself between the deputy and the ash smear.
The deputy shifts, trying to angle around him, but the patrol lights catch only Flagg’s chest and the dark edge of the square.
Flagg
Keep back from that ground.
Deputy Miller
You are awfully quick to stand guard over it.
The Child lifts one hand, palm out, and the air seems to tighten around the ash.
The Child
Deputy, look at the street, not the stain.
Miller obeys for half a breath, then his eyes flick back, narrowed, suspicious now of Flagg instead of the pavement.
Quest Complete
Turn Deputy Miller away from the ash smear
“I ask Miller what he saw here”
FAILURE (Poor Psychology, rolled -2)
Flagg
What did you see here, Deputy?
Deputy Miller
I saw a square that went wrong. People whispering, a man blocking the evidence, and a patch of dust that keeps everyone scared of looking at it.
He keeps his voice even, but his eyes stay on Flagg's hands, not his face. The patrol headlights flatten the ash smear into a dead, black scab at the edge of the pavement.
Deputy Miller
He is choosing that spot too carefully. If there is nothing there, why stand like a gate?
The Child
He did see it, just not the shape it wanted him to see.
Miller's jaw tightens. He glances toward the storefront glass, where the faint, dry tap seems to linger in memory more than sound.
Deputy Miller
Then tell me plain. Is this your doing, or is it something you are trying to hide from me?
“I tell Miller the square is contaminated”
SUCCESS (Superb Willpower, rolled +0)
Flagg
The square is contaminated.
Deputy Miller
Contaminated how?
Miller stops reaching for the ash. His gaze shifts from Flagg to the pavement, then to the storefront glass, as if measuring both against the same bad memory.
The Child
By something that listens when people name it.
Deputy Miller
He does not like that answer. He likes the dust even less.
The patrol lights hold the black smear in hard relief. Far behind them, the storefront glass gives a faint, dry tap, thin as a fingernail on a coffin lid.
Deputy Miller
Then tell me who stays and who goes, before I make the wrong call.
✓ Quest Accepted
Keep Deputy Miller from exposing the containment
“Gesture for the child to lead Elias away while I distract the deputy.”
SUCCESS (Superb Willpower, rolled -1)
Flagg lifts two fingers, a small, steady signal toward the Child. The Child catches it at once and shifts their attention past Miller, toward Elias edging back by the town hall steps.
The Child
Go. Now.
Elias flinches, then takes the opening, turning his shoulder and moving off at once, lantern hand tucked close to his side.
Flagg
Miller is looking at Flagg, not the smear.
Flagg keeps his body between the deputy and the blackened dust, calm as a shield. The patrol headlights bleach the square white, and the ash stays flat.
Deputy Miller
You two stay here. Elias, head to the truck.
Miller turns half away from the storefront, following Elias with his eyes instead of the glass. Behind him, the faint, dry tap comes once more, small and patient.
Quest Complete
Keep Deputy Miller from exposing the containment
“I ask Miller what he saw in the square”
FAILURE (Poor Psychology, rolled +0)
Flagg keeps his voice low and asks Miller what he saw in the square.
Deputy Miller
I saw a town that felt wrong before I saw anything else. That ash, the silence, your friend telling everybody where not to look.
Deputy Miller
His eyes keep drifting to Flagg, then away, like he is trying not to notice the smear.
Deputy Miller
And I saw a tap in that window. Dry. Like a nail on glass. No wind, no one there.
The Child
The window is a mouth. It listens when people explain it.
Deputy Miller
...Then I saw you stop it. That is what I saw.
Miller swallows, then shifts one step back from the storefront, putting the patrol car and its lights between himself and the blackened dust. His suspicion softens into something more careful.
Deputy Miller
You want me blind, or you want me useful? Tell me which one helps keep this contained.
“I ask Miller to guard the patrol car lights”
SUCCESS (Superb Willpower, rolled +0)
Flagg
Keep to the patrol car lights. If anything moves, stay there and watch it.
Deputy Miller
You want me on the lights, I stay on the lights.
Miller nods once and backs into the wash of headlamps, turning his shoulders toward the square instead of the storefront. The ash smear stays hidden in the dimmer gap beside him.
The Child
Good. Let him guard the bright edge. The dark part can breathe less.
The tapping in the glass continues, faint and dry, but Miller does not look back at it. His hand settles near his belt, ready, listening.
Deputy Miller
I am looking at the square, Flagg. If something comes out of that window, I see it first.
The headlights flare across the storefront, and the blackened smear lies just outside the brightest beam, untouched. For the moment, Miller is where Flagg put him.
✓ Quest Accepted
Keep Deputy Miller guarding the patrol car lights
“Step closer to the ash smear to ensure it stays in the shadows.”
SUCCESS (Good Agility, rolled +0)
Flagg steps in under the patrol lights, close enough that the ash smear stays buried in the dark seam beside the storefront. The tap in the glass stays dry and faint, but it feels louder from here.
Deputy Miller
That thing keeps knocking. I am not taking my eyes off that window.
Miller shifts his weight with Flagg's movement, staying planted in the headlight wash. The bright beam catches the edge of the black dust, but not the center of it.
Flagg
The smear is still in shadow.
Flagg's boot slides over loose grit, and a little scrape of stone answers him. The sound is small, but the Child's head snaps toward the square.
The Child
Careful. It hears shifts.
For a beat, nothing changes. Then the tapping in the glass stops, as if something inside has turned to listen. Miller tightens his stance, still guarding the lights, while the storefront waits in the dark gap just beyond him.
Quest Complete
Keep Deputy Miller guarding the patrol car lights