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Which no longer exist and Ghosts for reference.

The computer Rylan was using at the fire station pinged when the email came in.

"How'd he hear so quick?" he mused, reaching down to pat Fidget as he read the note.

His shift was just about up. He shut the computer down and made his way into the locker room to change into more appropriate pedestrian clothes with the Dalmatian tailing him like a spotted shadow.

"Not too early, I hope," he said to the dog, who followed him through the building and into the mess hall where several of the incoming shift had congregated.

"You guys mind watching this guy for a few hours?" he said, handing the dog over with a quick pat. "Be good now."

Then he left the building, eager to get driving.

Viv's leather jacket and the ring inscribed with with my love, always, liam still sat folded in his truck, as if Rylan had figured that they would prove relevant again very soon.

He drove to the address Liam had provided in his email, parked his truck on the street outside, and made his way into the building, where a metal box let him call up to the apartment in question.

Rylan wasn't sure how prepared he was for this conversation, or indeed any conversation he'd had with strangers in the last few weeks. The meeting with Sunny, finding that old ID of himself from the 60s had evidently kicked off a chain reaction of oddities that he found himself constantly embroiled in. And he had no idea where it was taking him.

Whether that was a good thing or not was certainly up for debate. The old Rylan, the one that had adamantly believed that there was no such thing as magic, would have said no. But things were different now.

"I am," he said, nodding in affirmation as he accepted the invitation and stepped into the apartment. "Her mother told me she'd kept in contact with you."

"Well, I... met her," Rylan said finally, for lack of a better way to put it. "I was out by the sea cliffs a few days ago with a friend, and she showed up. Said she wanted to climb the cliffs like she did every summer, and then she left her sweater on the ground and climbed."

He could hear the tightness in Liam's voice and knew that, once again, he was dredging up a past that maybe should have been left untouched. But then again, maybe Viv wouldn't have shown up if there hadn't been a reason behind it all.

"I followed her up, into this crack in the cliff face and this jacket was sitting there, under a lamp. This jacket, and this ring." He reached into the pocket and fished out the ring, garnet set in silver, strung on an old chain. "Was this from you?"

"She showed it to me, I guess," he said with the nod. That seemed to be the only way to put it, when a shockingly life-like ghost showed up to your adventure and led you straight to it.

"If you don't mind... Why do you say it shouldn't exist? And how old is this ring?" He added, treading as carefully as he could. He would desperately have liked to know more and understand more but one thing at a time.

"Was there a reason it was destroyed?" Rylan asked, watching Liam's emotional response and wondering what remained to be discovered on this odd journey he'd found himself on. "Do you remember what year it was? The... 60s, by any chance?"

He figured he ought to ask. If the ring and the old ID he had found had anything to do with each other, it would be clear that he'd stumbled into dangerous territory - though where the danger lay he certainly had yet to figure out. Then again, he mused, maybe it was dangerous territory regardless.

"Is there... anything special about it? Magical?"

"I'm sorry to reopen old wounds," Rylan said, sensing he might not get many more answers from Liam today. But before he turned to leave, he paused and added, "Did she ever tell you what she found in those cliffs? All I'm trying to do is figure out where this trail leads. I know it won't bring her back, but maybe it'll bring..." Closure? He didn't know.

Rylan nodded. "Alright," he said, reaching for the door. "Take care. If you ever... Well. You know where to reach me."