The driver had shown him what happened to Sera after he shoved her in the trunk, and he had panicked. The handcuffs were the only thing recognizable, the rest being an unidentifiable mess of dissolving bone and reddish goo.

“Cooperate, or that’ll be you,” he had said, before the Buick reversed abruptly and slammed him against a brick wall. The driver’s door opened, and a voice he’d thought he would never hear again spoke out.

“Get in, little bro!” Sera called.

“Sis, is that you? But I saw…” James asked, confused, but got in anyway.

“I’m too stubborn to die, you know that Jamie. You know how I drive, take over,” she said.

Only she called him Jamie. He didn’t understand what was going on, but knew he was safe. Growing up in the same apartment building she had always protected him, being the strong, brave ‘big sister’ despite the fact she stood about shoulder-height to him and wasn’t related. Somehow he could imagine her being happy to use the force of two tons of steel, he thought, as they drove off.