Where Is Araminta Green? (ONC 2024)

Chapter 1: Schrödinger's Witch

Caw! Caw!

Jordan spun around. The ominous crow call didn't come from his podcast recording, which he was finishing up editing, but rather from outside.

Having seemingly also heard the caws, Kiki jumped up on the window sill, rapidly moving her head as she tried to spot the offending bird. Jordan scooted over to join her. The wheels of his desk chair clanked against the uneven wooden floor. To make sure their son's late-night recordings didn't disturb the rest of the family, his parents had designated the partly unfurnished attic room as a podcasting studio during Jordan's brief stint in his hometown.

"Do you see anything?" he asked the cat while stroking her slick fur. The night was as pitch black as Kiki, but perhaps her keen yellow cat eyes could see things Jordan couldn't. Looking at his wristwatch, Jordan noted to his surprise that it was already 3.15 in the morning. He'd completely forgotten about time while he was perfecting the trailer.

Despite hours of work, he still felt like something was missing. He just couldn't quite pinpoint what needed to be added for him to feel like the trailer was finished.

Kiki darted her head, eagerly focused on something right outside the fence of the garden, where woods began. High firs rose higher than the house and soft moss formed a soft bed below. Jordan squinted to try to make out what the cat was looking at. Was there perhaps a movement? A dark shadow lurking underneath the branches?

For months after Araminta's disappearance, Jordan had imagined seeing her out there. A hint of a laced skirt or a flick of black braids whooshed by in the periphery of his vision. But when he turned his head, there was never anything there. Araminta was a ghost, never straying into the light but always existing in the shadows of his consciousness. She was a ghost who kept asking Jordan if there was something more he could have done. Maybe he could have asked her if she wanted a ride that morning? Maybe he could have reached out to ask how she was doing on any day before that? Maybe he could have been less scared of her?

The podcast was an attempt to chase away Araminta's ghost. Either the ghost came out to play or it left Jordan alone for good. Because he couldn't continue having her watch him from the shadows. So when Professor Carrigan had tasked the journalism students with conducting an investigation on their own and presenting it in audio or visual form, Jordan hadn't even had to think about what case he would delve into. Because Araminta was always on his mind and had been so for the last two years.

Araminta wasn't out there. Jordan repeated this mantra as he turned away from the window, after giving Kiki another affectionate head rub. But the words wouldn't quite penetrate his brain, because just like a certain cat in a box, Araminta was neither alive nor dead. She was both. Which meant she could be out there.

She was Schrödinger's witch and Jordan was tasked with finding the right box to open to determine her fate. It was the mission placed upon his skinny shoulders when spotting her that morning, before she vanished into the shadows.

Once more, Jordan turned his attention to the podcast trailer. He pressed play to listen one more time, trying to figure out what was missing. The sound of his own voice made him cringe every time. He sounded like he was trying to imitate what a professional podcaster sounds like. Unfortunately, Jordan was no Ira Glass yet. His cadence sounded stilted and the enunciation forced. But it was the best he could do for now. No one started at the top. Even Ira Glass had been a beginner once.

The sense of something missing from the trailer still lingered after what was probably Jordan's millionth listen-through. His sleep-deprived brain was almost out of ideas, but he had to keep going. What if he re-recorded the last line—the prompt to subscribe to new episodes—and then added something more after? Something that tied the whole trailer together.

Realistically, he didn't think anyone would subscribe to his podcast. Apart from handing it to his professor, Jordan intended to publish it on his haphazardly created website, where perhaps a few curious classmates would listen to it, but he knew it was unlikely to find a wider audience. Still, having that call to action gave it an air of legitimacy. It made Jordan feel like he was a real journalist and not just a sophomore journalism student.

Moving the mic, which he'd borrowed from the university's media department, closer, Jordan cleared his throat, preparing to repeat that last line with some more flair. He pressed "Record".

Caw! Caw! Caaaw!

Before Jordan could speak a single syllable, the crow had returned. The window sill rattled as sharp claws landed on the metal surface.

Mrrroooowww!

From her position on the other side of the glass, Kiki had, of course, noticed the flying intruder. Jordan pressed the button to stop the recording. With all this noise, there was no way to get an undisrupted string of words out. Instead, he pushed off against the floor with his feet, rolling the desk chair over to the window again.

In the darkness, a bewinged silhouette lurked. The crow was unafraid of both him and Kiki, peering at them curiously while tilting its head from side to side.  Kiki on the other hand was not as calm. The cat ran back and forth on the window sill, seemingly trying to find a way outside to snatch the bird. All the while, she was yowling loudly.

"Calm down, girl," Jordan urged the cat, trying to pet her as she rushed by. "You're going to wake the whole house up."

Kiki didn't listen. Still yowling, she darted out of the room and down the stairs. Perhaps cat logic told her there must be a way for her to get to the tasty bird in that direction. It was only a matter of time before she woke Jordan's parents, who would then wonder why he was still up at this hour. Staying up past midnight was a great affront to human decency in their book. If only they knew what hours Jordan kept when in his college dorm room.

Quenching a yawn, Jordan looked toward the crow again. It was still there, unrattled by Kiki's shenanigans. Its dark eyes seemed to stare into his soul, possessing mysteries unattainable to human minds.

Caw! Caw!

The sound awoke an idea in Jordan's admittedly sleepy brain. Quickly, before the inspiration disappeared, he rolled back to the computer and pressed play on the sound he'd recorded previously, when the crow interrupted him before he could speak.

Caw! Caw!

That's it. That's what was missing. The perfect ominous sound to cap off the segment. After some adjustments of settings, Jordan had isolated the sound of the crow and added it to the end of the trailer. Somehow, the caw brought all the elements together, capping everything off with some mystery.

"Jordan, are you still awake?" His mom called from downstairs just as Jordan uploaded the trailer to his website. A tingly sense of satisfaction spread down his neck from knowing it was out there in the world now.

"Yeah... I'm just going to bed," Jordan assured his mom. Looking at the clock on the computer, he calculated that he could still get a few hours of sleep before he needed to be up bright and early to start his research for the next episode the next morning.

Crawling between the covers, Jordan realized to his surprise that he was actually very sleepy. Exhausted even. Perhaps there was something to his parents' ideas of going to bed at a decent hour. While dozing off into crow-filled dreams, he felt the comforting sensation of a cat rolling herself up by the foot of the bed. Kiki had returned from her bird hunt.

Caw! Caw!