THIRTY-NINE

I ARRIVED AT MASONVILLE HIGH a few minutes early, under a cloud-covered sky. I slid my helmet off and watched Creepers swarm the exterior of the building like they knew something was up.

I almost jumped out of my skin when a patrol car pulled up next to me, missing my right leg by inches. My body tensed as Detective Benny rolled down his tinted driver’s side window. He held my wallet out but kept his gaze forward, his pistol in his lap. Unholstered.

Slowly, I took my wallet back.

“I hear some rough guys got ahold of that. I’d be real careful if I were you.” He sat there a moment, letting his threat sink in. “Have a good day, Owen.”

He drove off.

This town was way more corrupt than I’d ever imagined, and I wanted to get to the bottom of it. But Arthur had given us the ultimate solution —a strategy to purge and heal Masonville from the inside out.

I shook off my nerves and approached the school, standing alone outside the main entrance, watching vehicles pass. Minutes ticked by, and no one turned in. Then finally people started showing up, one by one. By start time, ten o’clock, Betty was there with her little old ladies, including Dorothy in a wheelchair. Ethan pulled up at the same time as Ray Anne and her parents.

And that was it.

“Now, don’t you go hanging your head low.” Betty patted my back. “We’ll fill this parking lot with people someday real soon.”

Someday? That felt like failure.

Ray Anne asked Ethan where Pastor Gordon was, and he said his father wanted to be here but had a golf tournament fund-raiser today. I asked him if he thought anyone from the Thursday Bible study might come, and he shrugged.

Elle arrived and made her way over to us, no TV camera this time. She leaned toward me. “I hear you had an intense night.”

I stepped away from the group, and she followed. I kept my voice down. “You’ve been willing to help me, even when I didn’t know I needed it.” I pulled the recorder from my pocket and placed it in her hand. “I’m trusting you with this. Be careful, this does involve criminal activity.”

She glanced around the parking lot, then shoved the device in her purse. “Anything to do with Riley or the other disappearances?”

“Everything, I believe.” I spoke even quieter. “These abductors prey on kids with wrecked home lives.”

Elle didn’t look surprised. “Usually makes for less of an investigation. No mom or dad doing media appearances or pressuring detectives to keep searching.”

I winced. “So it looks like it’s up to us to keep fighting for them.”

She gave a single, determined nod.

“I know you like to work alone,” I said, “but this is going to take a team effort.”

She raised an eyebrow, but said, “I understand.”

Maybe working with her wouldn’t be so bad. “I’m warning you, this investigation will require that we follow physical and spiritual evidence —certain things your eyes can’t even see.”

She nodded again, enthusiastically this time.

“I won’t rest until the truth is brought to light,” I vowed, “and justice is served.”

She shook my hand firmly. “Neither will I.”

We rejoined the group, and I instinctively stood next to Ray Anne. Betty had us circle up and grab hands. Then she did as Arthur had instructed, acknowledging the decades of abuse and bloodshed on the land and asking God’s forgiveness. She also prayed for each missing person by name, beginning with her niece Tasha. I looked toward the overcast sky, wondering what the impact would be with such a small group. Ray Anne elbowed me in the side and pointed down.

A giant, pink-rose-colored glass bowl was on the ground inside our circle —the same kind I’d seen those Watchmen in the sky empty on top of that herd of Creepers when I was on the plane. As people took turns praying, liquid collected and expanded in the base, glistening and bright. It didn’t look like enough to soak Molek and his army, but at least something supernatural was happening.

In the distance, a white Jeep pulled over against the curb in front of the school, derailing my concentration. Lance got out, followed by three more guys, and they stood there watching us, arms crossed, shaking their heads and laughing.

I should have expected it. Lance had a history of mocking and betraying me. But things got weird when another car pulled over, followed by several more. Pretty soon, there were more people pointing and gawking than there were in our circle. In droves, Creepers climbed off the school building and stood with the scoffers. Others encircled us like a pack of hungry hyenas.

But we kept going.

Eventually, I was the only one who had yet to pray. I kept stalling, wishing I felt more qualified. Despite the urgency and seriousness of the situation, this was awkward —a guy my age, holding hands with mostly elderly people, praying in public.

I shouldn’t have cared what people thought, but the onlookers’ belittling glares were messing with me.

I managed to rise above the sinking sense of humiliation and voice a stammering yet heartfelt plea, growing bolder the longer I spoke. Mr. Greiner nodded in approval for once, and Ray Anne raised a surprised eyebrow. But the biggest miracle happened in the spiritual realm.

While I was praying, Custos and two more impressive armored Watchmen approached our group. From behind me, one reached over my shoulder and held a massive sword out in front of me. I knew better than to try to grab the handle —I’d already failed at that. But without any effort on my part, while still praying, I watched like a spectator as hands extended from within me. I’m talking, like, my spirit’s hands. They literally grabbed the sword.

The Watchmen stepped back. Meanwhile, as I stood there motionless, moving only my mouth, my spirit wielded the weapon all around, even behind me. And get this: it sliced and maimed every Creeper that dared to come near.

My heart leaped at the game-changing observation. The festering wounds and slashes Creepers bore weren’t mere symptoms of their debased existence. They were war wounds. Battle scars wrought by people’s prayers.

Unbelievable.

The bowl was nearly full now. Ray Anne noticed too and touched her hand to her heart. Then up it went, rising quickly like a helium balloon until it blended with the overcast sky, out of our spiritual sight.

And so, it was over.

People said some final amens, and Ray’s mom seized the opportunity to invite everyone over for brunch.

Ray Anne searched my face. “What do you think will happen now?”

We both knew Arthur’s instructions had called for the town to gather and act on that verse in 2 Chronicles, not just a few people, and the consequences for failing the mission were certain to be severe. But it was hard to know exactly how things would play out —how much time we did or didn’t have and how many tries we’d be afforded. We couldn’t discuss it right now, though. Mrs. Greiner was giving out her address and getting a head count of who all were coming over. Ray gave me a reassuring grin, optimistic as always, then went to join her mom.

As people headed toward their vehicles, trying to ignore the hecklers, Ethan walked Ray Anne to her parents’ car and even put his arm around her shoulders. It was a small thing, but I swear, it hurt worse than having that knife plunged into my arm.

“You coming to brunch?” Betty asked me.

I shook my head. “I’m not hungry.”

It was worse than that. I’d underestimated how sick I’d feel watching Ethan pursue Ray Anne. And I hated not knowing how effective our gathering had or hadn’t been. Judging by the number of Creepers still roaming outside the school, we still had serious work to do.

The onlookers were finally driving off, and Lance’s friends piled into his Jeep, but Lance still stood there, staring at me from the curb. Something hanging from his rearview mirror caught my gaze. Was that really a white mask, the exact kind the guards were wearing the night before?

I turned my back on him and started my motorcycle, wondering how I’d come this far, just to feel so unsure about where to go and what to do from here.

“Go back to Boston, Owen!” Lance yelled.

Only it wasn’t his voice.

I watched in revulsion as Demise slipped in and out of Lance at will, borrowing Lance’s mouth to heckle me, then exiting out his back and glaring at me like a cobra about to strike.

Once again, Demise hunched down and pressed himself into Lance, corrupting his eyes and voice and facial expressions. “You lost today.” He stared at Ray Anne and her parents as they drove off the lot. “You lost everything.”

I didn’t have to take this —from Lance or Demise. I put my motorcycle in gear and pulled back on the gas, but Lance was in his Jeep, peeling out onto the street like a coward by the time I made it over to him. Just as cowardly, Demise dove headfirst into the earth.

I sat on my rumbling bike, alone in the parking lot. Just me and reality. And my thoughts . . .

It was true. I probably had lost today. But it was truth mixed with a lie. I hadn’t lost everything.

An insane idea hit me —two of them, actually. An impulsive decision, followed by an almost impossible next step —a life-altering leap with the potential to forever impact my future and life direction and mission in Masonville.

It was the craziest, boldest, most spontaneous thing I’d ever thought to do.

But I was instantly determined.

I sped to my apartment, got what I needed, then took off again. I parked behind all the vehicles in Ray Anne’s driveway, then barged into her house without knocking. Everyone from the gathering was seated and chatting around Mrs. Greiner’s long dining room table.

I took a deep breath and then said it, loud. “I need someone to baptize me.”

Instant silence. Finally, Ray Anne’s dad spoke up. “Right now?”

“Yes.” No one budged. I approached him. “Please, sir.”

More silence. Then Mrs. Greiner said, “Well, we do have a pool.”

I didn’t wait on anyone to get up. I headed out the door to the backyard. They weren’t far behind me. I took off my shoes and my shirt, then emptied my jean pockets and handed the rolled-up wad to the person who happened to be standing nearest to me. Ethan.

Mr. Greiner stepped forward, and without pausing to change clothes, together, we stepped down the steps into the cold pool. “You’re serious about this?” he asked me.

“Completely.”

He stood beside me in the waist-high water. “Is there something you’d like to say?”

I looked around at Dorothy and Betty and her friends, at Elle, Mrs. Greiner, and teary-eyed Ray Anne. Ethan too. “I used to be shackled. But now . . .”

I gave Ray Anne a small smile, and a tear trickled down her cheek.

“I am free.”

Mr. Greiner had me turn to the side, preparing to dip me under water. It occurred to me that neither my mother nor my father was here. Yet another parentless life moment. But this was between God and me.

Lo and behold, as Mr. Greiner placed one hand behind my head and another on my chest, Custos showed up, gleaming beside the pool.

Seconds later, I was drenched. To my amazement, Mr. Greiner embraced me.

I stepped out of the pool soaking wet and made a beeline to Ethan. He handed me my shirt and belongings, and I sifted through them, retrieving one thing.

I locked eyes with Ray, standing next to Ethan, then stepped in front of her and took her hand in mine.

“Owen, what are you —?”

“Just listen, Ray Anne.”

I could feel everyone staring at us. Nobody uttered a sound.

“I heard what you said about giving me time and space to figure things out, and I get it, Ray —I really do. But the thing is, I’ve already discovered who I am and what I want. I want to finish what we started in this town and keep fighting. Together, as a couple.”

Ethan lowered his head.

“I know I’ve made things difficult and given you a hard time, but it’s ’cause I didn’t get it. I believed it when a liar told me God doesn’t care if I love him as long as I do my duty to humanity, but I know better now. This whole thing is about loving and trusting him. And I’m ready. I wanted to get baptized today, Ray —not because it’s what the church says I’m supposed to do or as some stunt to win you over, but because you were right. It is important.”

I lowered to one knee, wet jeans and all. “I came up out of that water ready to live the rest of my insane life the way God wants me to, and I want you with me.”

I held up the little black box. “I know there are good men who would give anything to be with you.” I worked to tame the avalanche of emotion. “But I don’t want to live my life without you.”

I opened the box. “My father gave this ring to my mother when they were young and in love —nearly as young as us.” I cleared my throat. “Ray Anne Bethany Greiner . . .” I reached up and wiped a tear from her cheek. “Will you marry me?”

I held my breath.

Her response was not at all what I expected.