Wyatt pounded the last of the nails into the door between the kitchen and the utility room. The washer and dryer were on the other side, wedged against the back door. He didn’t think they’d try coming in that way again. Not after Chan’s killing. They could only march up the back steps one at a time, not a great option for attack. No, they’d try another approach. He wasn’t sure what was coming next. But he had an idea he wanted to explore first.
Opal exited Adam’s room.
“He’s awake,” she said. “He doesn’t remember anything that happened. Says he went into his room to check the window. Looked outside. Then he started inspecting the stone. After that, he’s drawing a blank.”
“Probably better if he can’t remember.”
“He asked me to take the cuffs off.”
“Did you?”
“You have the key.”
“Oh, right.” Wyatt slipped the key into Opal’s hand. “He tried to trick me before when I had him pinned. He wasn’t very convincing. You believe him?”
Opal nodded.
“I’m going up on the roof,” Wyatt said.
“Why?”
“I’ll be able to see the whole town. Get a better idea of what’s out there.”
“The darkness and the storm ...”
“The Pitch are carrying lanterns and spotlights. They’re in tight groups. I can find them easily enough. I’ll get an idea of their numbers ... how they’re moving. The fires are blowing south to southeast. We’re not in their path right now. Winds can change. And if they do, so will our chances. I’d like to assess the damage. Plan an escape route ... if we have to run for it on foot.”
“What about our trucks?”
“They’ll have trashed them for sure. If not, they might be lying in wait nearby. It’s too risky.”
“We won’t make it far running.”
“Not all four of us together. We need to create a diversion.”
“We’re not splitting up, Wyatt.”
“I didn’t say that. I want a look around. Figure out our options. Right now I think it’s best to stay put. But I don’t want to be heading into the night without a plan. I can get out to the rooftop through the attic.”
“I’ll come with you.”
“No. If Adam’s awake, he can go.”
“Why can’t I?”
“It’s safer in here.”
“I just killed somebody in here .”
“If Adam goes off on that stone again, I’m the only one who can handle him safely. He’s coming with me,” Wyatt said. “Agreed?”
Opal nodded.
“Time for a little scouting of my own,” she said.
“I don’t follow you.”
“I’ll make myself have a vision.”
“What? You can do that?”
Opal shrugged. “I don’t know. Never tried it before.”
“Sounds like a bad idea. You shouldn’t be taking any chances.”
“Look, I had a vision of this Whiteside before without trying.
Maybe it’s not so much of a curse. I could figure out where he is. What he’s up to. We’d gain the advantage.”
“You think you have a psychic link to this bastard?”
“You tell me.”
“If you can get in his head, I pity him.” Wyatt smiled.
Opal smiled back and said, “He can’t hurt me, not physically. He’s out there and I’m barricaded in here, right?” She didn’t sound too confident.
“I don’t see how he could harm you,” Wyatt said. “But to be safe, have Vera stand watch. She stays at your side the entire time. Monitors your behavior, any reactions you might have to the encounter. You’re in trouble, she pulls the plug.”
“Okay, let’s do it.”
“Okay.”
Wyatt kissed her.
Opal wanted the night to be over. To have Christmas dinner and return to their normal life of daily ups and downs. Live their small-town lives in peace.
Tonight was going to be far from peaceful.
Wyatt collected the flashlights in the apartment. They had a heavy-duty policeman’s Maglite, a Snake Light for handyman jobs, and two LED pocket-sized lights they used for camping. Wyatt was obsessive about keeping the batteries fresh. Each flash snapped on to full brightness. Their beams shined on the wall.
Four moons.
He clicked them off, one by one.
Adam stood in his doorway, silent. Hands still manacled behind his back. His tousled hair fell over deep-set eyes circled with tiredness. Shoulders slumping forward, a yoke of muscles bunched around his neck. He tipped his head to one side, squinting, as if even the dimness hurt his bloodshot eyes.
“I need some water.” His voice crackled like dry leaves.
Opal unlocked the handcuffs.
Adam shuffled to the sink. He bent and drank, guzzling from the faucet, taking long, deep swallows that slurped loudly in the
basin. He cupped water in his hands and poured it over his head. Water trickled off his elbows onto the floor. He straightened up and slicked down his hair. In the candlelight glow, his face appeared badly sunburned, peeling. Stubble blackened his chin.
Vera came out of the hallway and joined him at the sink.
Adam slid along the counter to make room for her. He didn’t glance her way. Arms hanging down, his fingers drummed the oven door.
Oven door.
Wyatt wondered if he’d overheard them, knew the stone was shut inside.
He shifted gradually to the balls of his feet. Body tightened for a launch.
Adam gripped the door’s handle and began rocking it open a few inches and then closing it. Over and over again. It was an unconscious act, a nervous fumbling, which reflected inner unrest. He didn’t know he was doing it. The hinges squeaked. The door thudded shut. Squeak. Bang.
He opened it up again. Wider this time. Squeak. Candlelight wasn’t sufficient to penetrate the dark hollow of the oven’s compartment. Bang.
Squeak.
Through the reappearing crack, Wyatt glimpsed something. Movement? Changes in the dark—a greater depth gaped at him: the vertical sliver of a colorless eye. It blinked. The oven door slammed.
Wyatt wasn’t certain he’d seen anything there at all. It was too unbelievable. But he had seen it. He couldn’t deny his own observations. And his physical reactions—his whole body trembled. Adrenaline flooded his bloodstream.
Adam wasn’t acting out consciously. The stone still had talons buried into his mind. It was in control.
Squeeeeeeak. BANG!
Vera picked up a coffee cup. She glanced sidelong at Adam, prepared to duck away if things went suddenly violent and Wyatt
had to tackle him again. Adam seemed oblivious to them both. His stare had locked on the wall above and to the left of Wyatt. The wall was blank. A sight beyond the wall intrigued and terrified him. His mouth hung slack, a trickle of saliva ran down his chin.
Vera tapped his shoulder.
He jumped like a person roused from a troubled sleep. Brushed his knuckles against the spittle on his face and frowned.
She offered Adam the steaming cup. Smiling at him, though her hands betrayed her. She was shaking. Coffee sloshed over the cup’s rim.
Wyatt admired her guts.
Adam registered his surroundings. He surveyed the room. Confusion and struggle marked his every move. As if he were struggling to stay awake. He nodded his thanks to Vera, sniffed at the cup, and tentatively drank.
“How’re you feeling?” Vera asked.
He coughed. Shook his head to clear the cobwebs.
“I’ve got a massive headache.”
“Welcome to the club,” she said.
She dragged a chair away from the kitchen table and sat down.
Adam moved stiffly, watching his hands and feet, willing them into action and unsure if they would obey. But he sat, too, joining her, more than an arm’s length from the oven. He sighed as he sank into the chair. Relief.
Smart girl, Wyatt thought.
Wyatt passed the two mini-lights to Opal. “We’ll take the Mag and the Snake. You and Vera can use the LEDs if you need to.” He turned his attention to Vera. “Help Opal. Do whatever she asks. Keep her comfortable. She’s going to induce a vision. She’ll be vulnerable. You need to sit with her and pay attention. Any sign of danger, snap her out of it. We don’t even know if it’s going to work. But it’s worth a try. Adam and I won’t be gone long, I hope.”
Adam rubbed his wrists.
“Where are we going?” he asked.
“The roof,” Wyatt said. “You ready for that?”
“Yeah, I’ll get the ladder.” He stood up too quickly and swayed. Faltered. He leaned on Vera. She helped him back into his chair. “Guess I’m a little dizzy. As long as I don’t have to climb out there, I’ll be fine.”
He pressed the heels of his palms to his forehead. His eyes clamped shut. His hands slipped down his face. He sat there, elbows on the table, face hidden behind his closed fingers, as if he were playing a game of peek-a-boo with them.
“Adam?” Opal asked. “Honey, are you sure you’re feeling—?”
“Where’s the stone?” he asked, not taking his hands away. He didn’t show them his face. His voice sounded miles off and yet it resonated. Wyatt felt a thrumming in his breastbone. Could that be Adam’s voicef It had to be. Yet it sounded so alien.
The room filled with the smell of burned matches.
Vera gasped.
The candles sputtered as if tiny mouths whispered into them. In unison, the flames shot up, dancing high over the pools of rapidly melting wax. The wicks burned tall and golden white. Liquefied wax bubbled, flowing off the table’s edge until every candle burned out with a hiss.
“We hid it,” Opal said. “And we think it’s best that we keep the hiding place a secret. That way you won’t be ... bothered by it.”
Adam cocked his head, considering.
“How very clever you are,” he said. He hadn’t moved his hands. But the grin behind them was so large it showed, ear to ear. “Maybe I already know where it is, ever think of that, Mommy?”
“If you knew, you wouldn’t ask,” Opal said.
“Don’t presume.”
It wasn’t Adam talking. Wyatt knew that now. They all did.
“I want to talk to Adam,” Opal said.
Adam’s body contorted. He shoved the table away.
The violent thrust knocked Vera backward. She landed hard on the floor.
Slapping at the air, Adam flailed against invisible attackers
»
swarming at him from all directions. His quick breaths came juiced with panic. He punched his chest. He swung his arms in wild roundhouses that cut the air and kept his parents at a distance. He pulled his hair and raked his fingernails down his face.
Wyatt and Opal tried to restrain him.
He cast them off. Poised for greater self-torture.
As quickly as the assault came, it ended. Blood and skin stuck under his nails. Scratches furrowed his forehead and cheeks. When he dropped his hands, he looked like Adam again, wholly unaware of what he had done.
Vera stood watching him.
Adam’s bleeding face, more haggard than before, gave her pause.
Wyatt read her thoughts because they were his own.
While they worried about securing the motel, the Pitch had found another way inside. Through them. Had the malevolence possessing Adam cleared out for good, or did it simply lie low and bide its time?
Adam coughed and drank his coffee.