by Amy Cross
“Something important?” Buddy asks.
“Life or death,” I reply, forcing a smile. He knows better than to probe too deep.
We sit in silence for a moment, watching as people stroll past the house. Right now, Deal looks so utterly peaceful and normal, it's hard to believe that anything bad could ever happen here. Soon news of the discovery in the forest will get out, and then the fear'll spread. I've seen it happen before, back when Tommy Hague disappeared, and I'm about to see it happen again. I also know from experience that at times like this people can tend to get antsy and irrational. They also start demanding answers, and right now I don't have any answers to offer.
“So what happened?” Buddy asks finally.
I turn to him.
“You only come to see me when something's wrong,” he continues. “You're gonna tell me all about it anyway, so you might as well spit it out now. Something happened and you've come to me for advice.”
He reaches into the cooler next to his chair and takes out another cold beer, which he sets down right next to me. As I open it and take a swig, I know he's watching me with interest, and I also know that I really shouldn't be drinking beer at all, not given the state my stomach's in. Still, at a time like this, I need a drink.
“The longer you hold off on telling me,” he says after a moment, with a hint of concern in his voice, “the more I'm gonna get worried. It's not another kid gone missing, is it? Like Tommy?”
I stare down at the beer bottle for a moment, before turning to him. I think I can see just a flicker of fear in his eyes. Real, deep-down fear.
“We found something,” I say finally. “In the forest.”
I wait for a reply, before turning and seeing the fear in his eyes.
“We found a girl's body out there,” I continue. “She'd been...”
I blink, and in that fraction of a second I see the glistening bucket of intestines. By the time my eyes open again, Buddy's expression has changed from fear to anger.
“She'd been cut up pretty bad,” I tell him. “Her body had been chopped into pieces and arranged in seven buckets. Other than that, we don't really know anything right now. The wholes situation is kind of up in the air.”
“Do you have any suspects?”
I shake my head.
“Do you know the girl's name?”
Again, I shake my head.
“Jesus,” he continues, leaning back in his chair. “This isn't right. Things like this shouldn't be happening around here.”
I watch him for a moment, hoping that he might volunteer the information I need. Then again, I've known Buddy for a long time, and I guess it's unlikely that he'll break old habits now.
“I need to know what you know about the forest,” I tell him finally.
He turns to me. “What's that?”
“I need to know if there's anything I need to know.”
“I don't have a goddamn clue what you're talking about.”
“That forest is huge,” I continue. “No one man can know it all, but you must've come pretty close back in the day. And I know you've always said that the forest is none of our business, but I always got the impression you were scared of something that might be out there. Now, I put those concerns out of my mind, because I figured I didn't really need to know, but the situation has changed now. A girl is dead, and I need you to tell me anything that might be relevant.”
“I don't know anything,” he mutters, starting to sound agitated now as he sits up and adjusts his shirt collar. “I'm just an old man. What the hell would I know?”
“That's what I'm hoping you'll tell me.”
“Are you accusing me of holding back?”
“I'm saying that there's a time for being honest, and that time has arrived.”
“James -”
“Ever since I first heard about the Molly Abernathy incident,” I continue, “I've felt like you're hiding something.”
“What are you doing wasting time here?” he hisses, starting to sound a little breathless now. “I can't help you! I'm not gonna magically whip some flash of insight out of my butt and help you with the case! You need to be down at the station, going over it all, not -”
He sighs, before reaching over and snatching the beer from my hand. He's angry, but there's something else in his eyes too. Panic.
“Go!” he hisses. “Do your job!”
Before I can get another word out, he starts getting out of his chair, although his arthritic hands are trembling as he reaches out to steady himself against the railing. He's clearly in no fit state to be up and about, so I stand and reach out to support him.
“Get your hands away from me!” he stammers, pushing me back as he shuffles toward the top of the steps. He shuffles away, before stopping and pausing for a moment, and finally he's breathless by the time he turns back to me. “What in God's name is wrong with this town?” he asks, with fear in his eyes. “We're good people, this is a good place! Why do we have something like this here?”
“I remember what you said when Tommy Hague vanished,” I reply. “You said we had to pray that it was a one-off, that there'd never be another murder like it. You said the kid must've wandered into the forest and upset something. You talked about a balance. And for a few years, it started to look like our prayers were going to be answered. What I need to know, Buddy, is whether what happened to Tommy Hague could in any way be linked to the girl we found today?”
“Why would it be?” he spits.
“I don't know,” I reply patiently. “That's why I'm here. I need you to tell me.”
He turns and looks out at the town, and for a moment I can't help noticing that his whole body seems to be trembling.
“When I took this job,” I continue finally, “you only gave me one piece of advice. You told me my jurisdiction ended at the edge of town, and that anything that happened in the forest was none of my business. I knew at the time there was something you weren't telling me, but I let it slide and I followed your advice. Against my better judgment, maybe, but I still followed it. But now that's not an option anymore, and I have to start wondering why you always shut down investigations that seemed linked to the forest.”
I wait, but still he looks away.
“What's out there?” I ask.
“Are you still drinking?”
“That's got nothing to do with -”
“You look like you are.”
“Just occasionally,” I continue with a sigh. “It's not like it was. But -”
Finally, he turns to me. “And Emma and the girl?”
“They're gone. I don't have any contact with them.”
“You let it go too far,” he points out. “You let it eat you up until you drove your family away. That's a sign of weakness, James.”
“I'm not here to talk about my problems, Buddy. I'm here to talk about the forest.”
“It's a nice forest,” he replies, with a faint smile. “Best not to go too deep, 'cause you could get lost. But if you stay at the edges, you can have a swell time.”
“Buddy -”
“James?” He furrows his brow. “Is that you? What are you doing here? I didn't hear you arrive.”
I open my mouth to ask what he means, before realizing that he seems to have drifted into another of his confused states. Sometimes I swear this happens at the most convenient moments, but I'm not about to accuse him of anything. Nor am I going to go through the whole conversation again, just to get back to this point and have his mind reset again.
“I just came by to say hello,” I tell him.
His smile grows. “That's nice of you. Why don't you sit down and have a beer with me?”
He waits for me to agree, but I swear I see a hint of fear in his eyes. If I didn't know better, I'd think he was using his dementia to get out of talking to me. He's always been very keen to deflect questions about the forest, even going so far as to personally intervene and shut down investigations that seem to be heading that way. I guess I was wro
ng when I hoped I might get him to open up this time.
“I should get going,” I tell him. “I've got a case.”
“Nothing too nasty, I hope.”
“I'm sure you'll read about it in the paper soon,” I mutter, turning and heading down the steps. There's a part of me that wants to turn around, go back up there and shake that old bastard until the truth falls out of his mouth, but I know there's really nothing I can do to get him on my side. Buddy decided a long time ago that the forest is off-limits, and he's sure not going to help me change that now.
“James!” he calls after me.
I turn to look back at him.
“How are Emma and Ramsey?” he continues, with an innocent smile on his lips. “It's been so long since I saw them! You should bring them over some time!”
Ignoring him, I head to my car. The pain in my gut is getting worse, and in truth I'm starting to wonder whether I've been fooling myself about my reasons for coming to see Buddy. Maybe I've just been delaying the moment when I get back to the station and have to go to the medical examiner's office. I could excuse myself and try to avoid seeing the girl's corpse, but I can't let myself fall prey to weakness. There's a monster out there in the forest somewhere, and I don't think I'm ready to start believing in devils or any of that garbage.
This monster is human.
Five
Leanne Halperin
“Do you seriously want to go in there?” I ask as Ramsey and I reach the entrance to the tunnel system. “There's nothing down there, you know. It's just a bunch of boring tunnels that don't lead anywhere! They tried boarding it up before, but they stopped 'cause idiots kept breaking holes in the barrier. It's just a dumb tunnel.”
She stops and stares ahead in the darkness. There are several entrances dotted about Devil's Lookout, and this one – like all the others – takes the form of a cavernous opening that was dug into the rocks many years ago. A few stray tree roots hang down, as if to offer some kind of warning, and then there's nothing but the absolute darkness of the tunnel as it leads deep under the forest. There aren't even any lights.
“Remember when we came here once before?” I continue, hoping to jog her memory and remind her of a time when she made the right decision. “You almost went into the tunnel, but I talked you out of it. You said you could feel something in there. I mean, it's crazy, right? What does that even mean? I guess it just proves how easy it is to let things get to you and mess with your head. It's like...”
My voice trails off.
I'm not even sure she's listening.
“My dad's gonna want me home for dinner later,” I tell her, figuring I should try another approach. “Did I tell you? He's running for mayor! The election's tomorrow and he's, like, super-stressed about the whole thing. He flies off the handle at the slightest provocation, so my ass is toast if I'm even five minutes late. Then again, he and Mom might be out again. I haven't seen them in, like, days. If I'm lucky, we might have the place to ourselves!”
I wait, but she ignores me as she takes a step forward. Already, she's starting to fade into the darkness of the tunnel.
“Ramsey?” I add. “Are you even listening to me? I'm sure it'll be okay if you come to dinner. Do you remember how good my mom's cooking is?”
She takes another step into the tunnel, disappearing even further into the gloom.
“Do you, Ramsey? Do you remember?”
Another step, and now she's almost gone.
“Ramsey, stop!” I yell finally, no longer able to contain my fear.
She turns to me, but I can barely make out her face.
“We can't do this!” I continue. “Do you understand? These tunnels are dangerous. People have gotten lost in them, they aren't even mapped properly. And that's even before you consider the possibility of a cave-in! Or there might be wild animals!”
She holds up her phone, and the bright screen is almost blinding in the gloom of the tunnel's entrance.
“GPS,” she says proudly, “and a flashlight app. It's literally impossible to get lost. Besides, what are you really scared of? Come on, Leanne, you're starting to sound the way you did when we were little kids. Don't you remember when we were kids and we used to come here and dare each other to enter the tunnels?”
“Of course, but -”
“And we never did. Not once. We always chickened out like total pussies.”
“Exactly, and -”
“But we're eighteen now,” she adds, interrupting me again, “and chickening out would be pretty lame. It's like a rite of passage, we have to go into the tunnels. At least part of the way.”
“Is that why you came back?” I ask. “Did you come all the way to Deal just to prove some stupid point?”
“It's not why I came back, but it's as good a thing as any to do while I'm here. What's wrong, are you scared the witch of Devil's Lookout is gonna leap out and grab you? Or the devil himself?”
I can't help sighing.
“Come, don't come, whatever,” she mutters, turning and heading further along the tunnel. “I don't need you to hold my hand, Leanne! You can go home and not worry about feeling guilty. I'll be fine, and you're still a good friend!”
“Just wait,” I stammer, even though I hate the fact that I sound like I'm whining. I desperately, desperately don't want to take another step into this stupid tunnel system, but I feel like Ramsey is already starting to look at me like I'm still a kid. She seems so mature and confident, and I want to be like her.
Finally, despite my better judgment, I make my way forward.
Up ahead, the light from Ramsey's phone is already out of sight. I guess she must have gone around a corner, although the tunnel seems pretty straight so far and I'm starting to feel more and more nervous.
“Hey, I'm coming, okay?” I call after her. “Where are -”
“Boo!” she says suddenly, stepping out of the shadows.
I leap back, bumping against the wall, and then I feel a flicker of irritation as she switches her phone's flashlight back on.
“And that,” she says with a grin, “is the scariest thing down here. Aren't you glad you got the guts eventually?”
She turns and keeps walking, and this time I hold pace with her. The air is getting much colder, and maybe a little thinner, and I might be imagining things but I swear the tunnel is getting very slightly narrower and shorter, as if it's tapering down. I kind of hope that we'll eventually reach an impassable point, but suddenly I spot what looks like a junction up ahead, with a set of thick tree roots hanging down.
“Which way now?” Ramsey whispers, stopping and looking first left, then right. “Do you wanna pick?”
“Not really,” I mutter.
“The GPS is keeping us on the straight and narrow,” she replies, flashing her phone at me too fast for me to really see what's on the screen. “Just trust me, okay? I didn't suddenly develop a death wish while I was in New York. I just grew up. That's all.”
“But -”
“You said earlier that you want to go out into the world, Leanne. How do you think you're going to manage that, if you're still too scared to go into a gloomy tunnel in your own home town?”
She hesitates, before suddenly taking the turn on the left and leading me deeper into the tunnel system. As she does so, she reaches up and grabs one of the thick roots that hangs down from the ceiling, and she pulls hard before her hand slips.
“Careful!” I hiss.
“Why? Are you worried about a cave-in?”
“No, but -”
I can't help sighing. To be honest, I am worried about the tunnel's roof collapsing on us. As far as I know, these tunnels aren't supported at all, which means they could come crashing down at any moment. Just because they've been here for over a century doesn't mean they're totally sturdy, and even though I know I'm probably worrying just a little too much, I think Ramsey might be too far toward the other end of the spectrum. She seems almost foolhardy, like she thinks nothing can hurt us. Or, worse, sh
e wants something to hurt us.
“How many people do you think have died down here?” she asks after we've been walking for a few more minutes.
“Probably none.”
“What about the witch? Don't you think she hunts people through the tunnels?”
“Of course not.”
“But the devil part of the story? That you believe?”
“I just think we should show some respect,” I continue. “Everyone is always warned to keep away from the tunnels, and there's a reason for that!”
We reach another junction, and she immediately takes the turning to the right.
“It's cool down here,” she says after a moment. “We should've explored when we were kids. We shouldn't have let ourselves get too scared. I mean, think how much free time we had. We were always on our bikes, and playing, and doing all sorts of dumb stuff, but we could have been out here having proper adventures. There's only -”
She stops suddenly.
“Did you hear that?” she asks.
I stare ahead, but all I see is the light from Ramsey's phone dancing against the mud-and-stone walls. I didn't hear anything at all, but I quickly reach into my pocket and take out my phone, holding it up to add a little extra light to the scene.
Just in case.
“It was like a distant bump,” she continues, lowering her voice as if she's worried about us being overheard. “It was like something moving.”
“You don't know that for sure,” I tell her.
“Well, that's sure what it sounded like.”
“That doesn't mean that's what it was,” I continue, starting to feel a little more sure of myself. “If there was a noise, and I'm not saying there was, but if there was, it was probably just the ground settling, or some kinda insect, or wind blowing in through one of the other entrances. It could've been any one of a million things. Ramsey, you're just hyping this up and -”
Suddenly I hear a scraping noise far ahead of us in the darkness. Instinctively, I raise my phone up a little higher and take a step back, but the noise is already gone again.
