When his car pulled up, I was practically vibrating. All the little metal bits of equipment on my backpack were clinking and jingling.

The car abeener vibrated against my water bottle. In an attempt to look a little cooler than I was, I took a couple of deep breaths to curb the jitters.

Thankfully, it was dark out, and he probably didn't see anything. As soon as he'd come to a full stop, I braved stepping out into the headlights.

I was barely able to make my way down the path from the porch to the driveway.

I shielded my eyes with one arm and gave a weak wave with the other.

When I reached the passenger's side, the door opened in front of me, and I saw him sitting

in the driver's seat, leaning over

the console to let me in.

Welcome aboard, he said. A polite smile spread across his sharp, pointed face.

Hey, glad to meet you, I extended my hand.

Uh, prima is it? He extended his, and we shook.

Richter, he corrected me.

Richter, I repeated back.

We met on the forums, the Parawatch forums, to be specific.

He started a thread offering up his hometown to see if there was anybody nearby.

I know you're not supposed to give out that information to strangers, but the opportunity

was simply too good to pass up.

My name's Harold.

Get it?

How old? Harold? Came up with that when I was 12, he chuckled. But I think it was more out of sympathy than genuine amusement.

All right, go sling that backpack in the truck bed and we'll be off. I followed his instructions

and climbed into his big rusty truck. As soon as I was situated,

...