We walked quietly through the shadows, and Alexander squeezed my hand extra tight.

The two antique smokestacks pointed toward the heavens like giant grave markers. The desolate and dilapidated factory was riddled with graffiti, broken and missing windows, rusted doors, and overgrown weeds and grass.

Discarded boxes, trash, and beer cans were scattered around the grounds.

We turned a corner and came upon a vintage black mustang — Sebastian’s ride.

Alexander stopped in his tracks. He sighed and slumped, let down by the discovery that his best friend was in the company of his former nemesis.

“Maybe Sebastian felt he had nowhere else to go,” I offered encouragingly.

“Now that he’s fallen for Luna,” Alexander said, “he’s probably under Jagger’s spell, too.”

Alexander took a deep breath and started for a white wooden door with the words “GET OUT” spray-painted in black.

“Well, then I guess we’re going in,” I said.

But instead of charging in, Alexander stopped.

“Maybe we should wait,” he said, pausing at the doorway. “They obviously didn’t want us to know that they’re still here. Maybe we shouldn’t let them know we found them.”

“But how are we going to find out what’s going on with them?”

“I could go in myself — undetected,” he said, alluding to his nocturnal powers.

“That hardly seems fair,” I said with the disappointment of a child who is told she is too short to go on an amusement park ride. “If I could change into a bat, I’d do it, too.”

Alexander realized my limitations were upsetting me.

“Besides,” I said, “it might be dangerous to leave me here alone in this dark, desolate place.”