But why would the natives want to take everyone to the creatures they lived in fear of? In a town so frightened of noise that they left grease near every door hinge, the idea of bringing a whole parade of confused newcomers to a place where they could "meet" the Sound Eaters sounded insane. Perhaps "they" were something else, some other force at work here--

The sound of his name snapped him out of deep thought, and he turned to the hand on his shoulder. For a few seconds, he stared, not really grasping what he was seeing. But then his eyes went wide and his jaw dropped, and he came very close to breaking the quiet out of pure shock. "Sebastian?"

He nearly dropped his notebook in his reflex to grab Sebastian's shoulders, and only a last-minute thought reminded him to keep his voice down.

"You're here? God, is it really you?" He wished he didn't mean that so literally.