Once the car got moving again, things went smoothly for a while, and then they were off course again. Harper’s ’96 Sable lacked any kind of GPS, so they were relying on the maps app on Alex’s phone.

It would’ve been a straight shot down the coast, but after getting stuck in traffic, Alex tried to find an alternate route that would get them there more quickly. Unfortunately, it only succeeded in leading them to a dead end, but not until they’d been driving off course for fifty miles.

That led them to stop at a gas station, where Daniel got an atlas and mapped out the route. Harper fumed quietly about the unnecessary detour for a few hours, while Alex sulked.

According to Daniel’s earlier calculations, they should’ve reached Myrtle Beach around midnight. Thanks to all the stops and starts, it was almost twelve and they were still over two hours away.

That was when the length of the trip started wearing on Harper. She would’ve thought that her excitement and nerves would’ve kept her awake, but she’d slept terribly the night before, and the whole situation simply exhausted her.

In the backseat, Alex snored fitfully. He’d nod off, but almost as soon as he did, he seemed to become aware of it and would wake himself up again.

“He should’ve gotten a Red Bull at the gas station,” Daniel said, referring to their pit stop about an hour before.

“What?” Harper blinked. She’d been spacing out and had barely heard him.

“Alex.” He gestured to the backseat, and Harper glanced behind her.

Alex’s chin had fallen to his chest, and he swayed slightly in motion with the car. He snorted loudly, but didn’t wake up this time.

“Yeah, I guess, he’s really out,” Harper said, stifling a yawn, and turned her attention back to the road.

“How are you holding up?” Daniel asked.

He sat next to her, appearing surprisingly chipper. The map was on his lap, folded in just the right way so their path was sitting faceup, and he had a can of Red Bull in his hand. So far on the trip, he had yet to yawn or sleep or even complain of being tired.

“Great,” Harper said, but that was at least partially a lie. She was fading, and the highway seemed to stretch on in an eternal blackness that made her eyelids heavy.

“You sure?” Daniel asked. “Because I can take the wheel. You’ve been driving this entire time, and it wouldn’t hurt to trade off.”

She shook her head. “I’m fine.”

There was no real reason not to let Daniel drive, except that it made her feel a bit more in control of the situation. She wasn’t, really. Gemma had run off and turned into a monster, and there was nothing Harper could do about it.

But she could drive the car. She could keep them moving in the direction of her sister, and that was the best she could do right now.

“Let me know if you do get too tired,” Daniel said. “I’ll be happy to take over.”

“I’m fine,” Harper repeated.

There were hardly any cars on the road. It was a completely open stretch of highway, devoid of streetlights or houses. The car window was down, and Harper could smell the nearby ocean.

The moonlight shone down on them, and the yellow lines in the middle of the road began to blur.

“Whoa!” Daniel said loudly. The car suddenly jerked to the side, and Harper’s eyes flew open. His hand was on the steering wheel, guiding it so they didn’t drive off the road.

“What’s going on?” Alex asked, sounding panicked in the backseat. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, Harper’s just pulling over now,” Daniel said, his hand still on the wheel.

“I’m fine,” Harper repeated, now wide awake after nearly crashing the car.

“Nope, you’re falling asleep at the wheel,” Daniel said. “Pull over.” He wasn’t demanding, exactly, but there was a forcefulness to his tone, and Harper was too tired to argue with him. Besides, he was right.

“Who will check the map?” Harper asked as she parked the car on the side of the road. “I don’t want to get lost again.”

“Alex can handle it,” Daniel said. “He’s had a nap, and I have an extra can of Red Bull he can drink.”

“What’s going on?” Alex asked, still groggy and confused.

Daniel had opened the passenger door to get out, but he turned back to Alex. “Hop out. You’re up. It’s your turn as navigator. Harper’s gonna sleep in the backseat for a while.”

Reluctantly, Harper got out of the driver’s seat, and before she slid in the back, she warned Alex that if he got them lost again, she would literally kill him. She sprawled out in the backseat, expecting sleep to come slowly, but she was out within minutes.

Up front, Daniel and Alex started talking, and Harper would drift in and out of sleep, catching bits of their conversation. Most of it was mundane, and there was a bit where Daniel was apparently attempting to explain some kind of sporting event to Alex, and then Harper was asleep again.

She woke up again, and would’ve fallen right back to sleep like she had before, but then she heard her name, and she opened her eyes.

“Harper’s just that way,” Alex was saying. “You can’t take it personally.”

“I’m not,” Daniel said, but he sounded a bit defensive. “Well. I don’t know. I try not to.”

“She’s just a control freak,” Alex said. “And I mean that in the nicest way possible.”