I run across the clearing, half blind from the snow. From tears. Then I think I hear Josh’s voice. I don’t stop. I’m sick of imagining things. I’m not going to be fooled again.
So I almost run right into him. Josh. For real. Standing there in a big black parka, headlamp shining from out of his furry hood.
“Dylan! I thought I’d never find you, man. I’ve been out looking for ages. “I was about to give up.” Chest heaving, I try to catch my breath.
“I need you to see something,” I finally gasp. “I need someone else to see this. I need to make sure it’s real.”
Josh protests a little, but follows me back into the clearing. The skull is still there. He just keeps staring at it, framed in the circle of light from his headlamp.
“Is it…real?” he says.
“I think so.”
“Who is it?” he whispers. “Who was it, I mean?”
“I don’t know,” I say. Then I remember what Tom said. About the kid who went missing. I tell Josh, and he nods hesitantly.
“I always thought that was just a story.”
“Maybe not,” I say. With the adrenaline dying away, my head starts throbbing badly. “We need to get out of here.”
“Okay,” says Josh. He shakes himself loose from looking at the skull and stares around the forest on the edge of the clearing. “We’re actually pretty close to the road. The snow isn’t falling much now. We should be able to follow my tracks back.” He starts to trudge away and calls over his shoulder, “Don’t get any crazy ideas about walking out to the highway tonight either. We have to go back to the lodge before it gets too cold.”
“Wait, Josh,” I say. He turns. “Thank you, man. I think you might have, you know, saved my life.” Under his hood, even in the twilight, I can see him smile.
“We’re even now.”
He’s right about the tracks. The snow has stopped falling, and the full moon even shines out occasionally through gaps in the clouds. It’s pretty easy to follow Josh’s footprints back to the road. The road itself, however, is in bad shape. We climb over a couple of big tree trunks that have been downed by the wind. I’m standing on top of one trunk, about to slide down the other side, when I realize what this means. Harvey isn’t going to be able to bring the truck back. He’s going to be stuck at the highway. I don’t say anything about this, and neither does Josh. I think we both want to pretend that this isn’t true. That Harvey is going to find some way to get back in here. And get us out.
It takes about two hours to walk to the Swamp, but it feels like we walked all night. Right away, I crawl into my sleeping bag, even though I’m wearing my clothes. I close my eyes. I feel like I could sleep for a week. Just as I’m drifting off, Josh nudges me.
“Shouldn’t we go tell Edward about the…thing?” I open my eyelids, which feel like they’re made of lead. He’s staring down at me, worried.
“Yeah, I guess,” I say. “Wait until I get a little rest, okay? I’m wrecked.”
“What about your head? Shouldn’t we get that checked out?” Josh asks. But I only hear him distantly, fading away, as I fall asleep.
The dream is different this time. It starts like a series of snapshots in black and white.
Raven’s Lake. Still and calm. Empty except for the raft.
A tree full of black ravens, like black leaves clustered on the branches.
The Point. A shadow, someone on the edge of the campfire.
Cabin seven. The marks on the wall, deep gouges in the wood.
The skull, peering out from under dead leaves and dirt.
Then the dream snaps into motion, full color.
I’m underwater, and I think I’m going to be forced to watch my brother drown, again. But then I realize that this is different. I’m in the lake, diving down to save Josh. He’s stuck on the bottom, feet tangled in weeds and mud. I pull myself down. Deeper into the water, reaching out for him. But when I see the red jacket, I realize it’s not Josh. I swim closer and see rotting flesh. Decomposing skin. The corpse looks up at me and his lips move. I drift closer to him. And somehow, through the water, I hear his whisper.
“Seven.”