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The air in front of him buckles, wavers, distorts. Something seems to be weaving itself into being. It has almost the shape of a person—or it might only be a trick of the light.
Kyle stretches out his hand. Smoke rises in faint coils from his palm. It threads through the air to the figure, as if pulled by a draft, and the figure solidifies just a little bit more—
And then the rhythm of Kyle’s words falters, and the figure, the trick of the light, vanishes. Kyle’s hand drops. He sags, seemingly weary.
The video ends.
SUPPLEMENT G
Security video
Gas station, Point Brook, Pennsylvania
A standard view of a gas station at night. A car pulls up to the pump. Andrew Ashford gets out of the driver’s seat; Abigail Ryder exits the passenger side, says something to Ashford, and gives a mock salute. She heads toward the gas station store and disappears inside.
Ashford begins pumping gas. A young woman steps into frame, across the car from Ashford. He seems to sense her presence and looks up. It is difficult to identify the young woman, whose back is to the camera, but she bears a clear resemblance to Miranda Ryder.
Ashford speaks to her. She seems to respond. He glances back toward the store, where Abigail has gone. Then he nods.
A young woman sets something on the trunk of the car. And then she steps back. The shadows are thick at the edge of the frame, and the video quality is poor; it is impossible to be certain that she vanishes before she reaches the edge of the frame. It is natural to assume she simply steps out of view.
Ashford picks up the small object that the young woman left behind, and tucks it into his pocket.
Abigail Ryder exits the store. She tosses him a bottle of water. He seems about to tell her something.
He doesn’t.
He finishes pumping gas. They drive away.
Acknowledgments
First and foremost, thank you to my husband, Mike, for his tireless support through every stage of this book and all the others, and to the rest of my family for putting up with me while under deadline—especially Mr. O, who sometimes tried to help with the typing.
Many people offered editorial expertise, critique, commiseration, brainstorming, support, and dedicated hard work in shepherdingRules for Vanishingfrom an odd little concept to a polished final manuscript. So thank you to:
The truly sensational No Name Writing Group—Shanna Germain, Erin M. Evans, Rhiannon Held, Monte Cook, Corry L. Lee, and Susan Morris; my tireless agent, Lisa Rodgers, and her UK partner-in-crime, Louise Buckley; my fabulous editor at PYR, Maggie Rosenthal; my also fabulous UK editors at Walker, Annalie Grainger and Megan Middleton; and my meticulous copyeditors and proofreaders on both sides of the ocean: Marinda Valenti and Abigail Powers at PYR and Kirsty Ridge at Walker.
I am privileged to have Dana Li as my cover designer once again, and she continues to knock it out of the park. Simón Prades’s cover illustration is beautiful, spooky, and perfect. I am deeply grateful to both of them for lending their artistic skill and talent to creating a stunning cover. And Jim Hoover’s great work on the interior layout helped bring this peculiar book to life.
I have the great fortune of having not one but two wonderfully creepy covers to enjoy. So thanks to those who worked on the UK edition: Leo Nickolls, for the haunting illustration, Maria Soler Canton for the design, and Anna Robinette for the typesetting.
A special thank you to my expert readers/consultants, Meriah Hudson and Beth Bienvenu, for their insight. Any errors and missteps remaining are entirely my own. Thank you also for those who helped with thorny questions of all sorts at various stages, especially Mat Murakami, Day Al-Mohamed, and the Thrills & Chills crew.
Finally, thank you to Ms. Bean, who arrived just in time to have the final pass of the manuscript read aloud to her, and who will probably grow up a little weird as a result. If it’s any comfort, with parents like these, that was inevitable.
