Chapter One: After Midnight

Twelve photographs hung from the drying line, all depicting scenes she had never shot: the Everday Tower under a blood moon, seven strangers standing in a circle, Zhou before an enormous brass astronomical instrument. In the final picture, he looked directly into the lens, holding up a slate. SIS, IF YOU SEE THIS, I'VE ALREADY DISAPPEARED. The next photograph was hidden beneath the enlarger. Zhou held a different slate: DON'T TRUST ANYONE WHO COMES TO SAVE YOU. THE ONES WHO COME TO CAPTURE YOU MAY NEED YOU ALIVE. The third read: THEY CALL YOU THE BLANK. Jianyue turned to the final print. Zhou was absent. The photograph showed Jianyue herself, perhaps nine years old, lying at the center of an unfamiliar underground altar.