It was no small torture going from the sweet, sweet air conditioning of the gas station into the boiling heat outside, the steady hum of insects in every direction. Maybe a summoning. Maybe a warning. Goosebumps pimpled Ash’s arms in total contrast to the temperature, and she tried to wipe them away.

She felt exposed. She wanted to run, which was ridiculous on several fronts. 1) She hated cardio. 2) What would she be running from?

“Are you gonna take all day?” Richie snapped.

Oh yeah.

Ash rolled her eyes behind her glasses, refusing to rise to the bait. She just needed to get to Texas, and she could be done. Okay, she was done. So done. But she could be free. Hell, maybe she wouldn’t even wait till Texas. Maybe she would just wait for the first Greyhound terminal she saw.

She slid back into her seat, knees angled away from Richie. Code for ‘don’t fucking touch me.’ Richie didn’t give two shits about her signals because he was peeling out before she even had her seatbelt fastened, taking the left into town. Which was fine, Ash decided, cracking the seal of her water bottle to take a long drink. Maybe food would put them both in a better mood.

She doubted it, but maybe. Stranger things could happen. See? She could look on the bright side. And her mother thought she was a pessimist. A pessimist with horrible taste in men. Okay, fine. She’d give her mom that one. Fair was fair.

A sign rose out of bleached grass outside her window, the wooden posts chipping white paint. REVELATION, it said in big, green letters. Like the book of the Bible? She was a lapsed everything, so she couldn’t be sure. She wrinkled her nose, hoping they weren’t heading into the tightest notch on the Bible Belt. She wasn’t against religion or faith, but she wasn’t so sure “hoodlums” would be very welcome, festival or no.

Though it was somehow the birthplace of an underground horror film.

As Richie roared toward Revelation, taking the turns too sharp and doing very little to avoid the potholes that covered the narrow stretch of road through a forest thick with conifers and oaks, Ash spread one of the maps on her lap. Absently, she reached forward to turn the music down.

“What are you doing?” Richie asked.

“Looking for where we are?”

“Why do women always need to turn down the music so they can see better?”

“I would explain concentration to you,” she said, keeping her tone bored, “but you’d likely lose interest before I could even get started.” Which was the case in so many situations. She found the last exit she remembered before leaving the highway and started searching around for a town called Revelation. She checked the index and finally found it, using her finger to trace the grid.

Her brows knitted together, finger following the road they traveled on the map. Revelation was bordered on three sides by a vast forest. The road went into town but did not go through. To get back to the interstate, they would have to backtrack the entire way or go round.

“I don’t think this shortcut is very short, Chief,” she said dryly. “It looks like⁠—”

Richie turned the radio back on, music blaring from the speakers, drowning out her voice.

First. Greyhound. Terminal, she swore. She would not spend a minute longer in Richie’s company than necessary. At the first sign of real civilization, she was out. Dottie was right. If she stuck with a loser like Richie, she deserved anything she got. To avoid arguing, Ash went back to studying the map, marveling at just how many places there were in and around the Natchez Trace to hide a body.

* * *

The drive was only a few minutes, the trees giving way to a pristine little main street running straight into Revelation. It was like driving onto a movie set. Maybe for a Back to the Future reboot. All the shops on either side of the road were little mom-and-pop stores. A hardware store. A grocery. A couple of restaurants. Even a movie theatre.

The light poles were all garlanded with dried flowers. Ash doubted real flowers would have survived long in the sun, and it was actually rather pretty. A big banner stretched right across the street from one building to another, painted with two dancing bugs, welcoming them to CICADA FILM FESTIVAL. Hokey, but cute.

As they reached the end of the street lined with people mingling about the shops, cones and a uniformed officer directed them to a lot beside a laundromat filled with out of state plates. Richie slowed to a stop as the officer approached the driver’s side window, eyes obscured by mirrored shades.

Richie grumbled and turned down the music as the officer leaned down, big fingers curling over the lip of Richie’s window. “Afternoon! Y’all in town for the movie festival?”

Before Richie could offend, Ash flashed a smile, seeing herself reflected in the cop’s glasses. “We got a bit lost. Dottie from the gas station? She told us about the fair.”

“Oh, it’s more than a fair, miss! You’ll see! We’ve got everything. But you say y’all got turned round?”

“Are we being interrogated, officer?” Richie said snidely.

The man turned his head slowly and Ash didn’t have to see his eyes to know he was giving Richie the once over, fingers digging in just a little deeper to the worn interior of the door, tan knuckles whitening. “Not at all. Just glad of visitors. New faces are always welcome. Just like to know if folks heard about our little town. Helps the Chamber of Commerce plan for the next festival. And we just want you to have a good time!”

He stood back and Richie drove into the lot, Ash watching the officer’s head follow the car in. “Do you have to be so rude to absolutely everybody?”

“Do you have to flirt with absolutely everybody?” he countered.

“What the actual fuck, Richie?! I didn’t even remotely⁠—”

Richie adopted a high, nasal whine. “Oh, officer! Please! Would you like to frisk me and⁠—”

“You’re unbelievable.”

He snickered, pulling into an empty spot. Ash gathered her sling bag, checking to make sure she had her wallet and purchases from the gas station inside. Shoving the door open, she nearly slammed into a parking attendant.

“Whoa!” The attendant, a heavy-set woman with close cropped hair and dark skin put a hand to her heart and laughed in surprise, taking a step back so as not to crowd. Her long, dangly earrings tinkled musically. “Sorry if I scared you, hon! I just wanted to give you your map and coupons!”

“Wh-what?” Ash said, dumbly, holding out her hand for what the woman offered.

“We give ’em to e’erbody so you know what is happening when. Itinerary is right inside.” She then pointed toward the main street. “If y’all want a bite, all the restaurants are that way. We’ve got some stands in the center of town, too. Lots of local wares. Fun picture spots for couples. There’s the forest tours, which I recommend personally. Always nice to stroll through the shade and stretch your legs after being in a car for a spell. There’s screenings all day of CICADA in the theatre and, child, what a relief from the heat! And the fireworks are extra special this year! You won’t wanna miss those!”

Ash unfolded her own map. “Actually, I was wondering if this was accurate. It looks like there is only the one road in, and I wanted to know if there was a quicker way back to 22.”

The lady pulled her lips in and shook her head. “’Fraid not. Past the square is only the residential area.”

“Oh.”

“You poor thing. You look worn out. You head on into town and into one of the restaurants and air so you can rest and get you something to eat. Too thin. Youngins today are always too thin.” She patted Ash’s hand, squeezing gently.

Ash tried to conjure a smile. The woman seemed genuinely kind, eager to help. Sure, she was probably trying to keep them so they’d spend money, but Ash was gonna take any little kindness she could get. Even if it cost her.