“You caught someone?”
“Yes, in the middle of the night. The cousin of the girl everyone thought was a runaway. Unfortunately, she couldn’t tell us where Lizzie or the others are being held.” He paused. “It’s been a rough couple of days and there’s a lot more to get through. How are you doing?”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” she said abruptly.
“Okay, when you do, I want to listen.”
“Thanks for letting me know about Lizzie. Bye.”
Before he could say anything else she hung up.
Frustrated he sat down on the couch and forced himself to breathe deep. At least she’d called back. He’d gotten to hear her voice. Slowly he straightened as he replayed the conversation in his head. He’d said something important. Casey had told him they could hold the ritual with an unconscious coven member, but that they needed all eight. Unless they were stupid enough to try and break her out of jail that meant things were on hold until they could find someone to take her place.
Mother would be recruiting again and she’d be in a hurry. Just maybe there was someone who could help him figure out some likely candidates.
Half an hour later he was sitting in a coffee shop with Sweater Girl. She was drinking what had to be the most froufrou concoction he’d ever heard of, but he was just grateful she’d agreed to meet. He’d asked her if there was anyone she knew in her coven or in the larger wicca community that she could think of who might be tempted by the dark side.
She was sitting, thinking as she sipped her drink, and he was trying to be patient.
While he was waiting he was thinking. He assumed that a new sacrifice would have to be chosen who had a connection to whoever the new coven member was. That didn’t just mean that they’d let Meghan go, though. He guessed that they’d keep her and Lizzie alive until they had completed the eighth sacrifice and then kill them, too. Of course, if they believed their ritual was real and Lizzie as well as them would suddenly become immortal because of it, he wasn’t sure how they planned on getting rid of her. He’d learned a long time ago, though, not to question the logic of madmen.
Finally she put her cup down. “This is going to sound crazy.”
“I love crazy as long as it gets me somewhere,” Mark said.
“I really hate to say this, but the person that keeps popping into my mind is Samuel.”
“The guy who just got out of the coma?” Mark said in surprise.
“Yeah, I know, it sounds crazy. It’s just...I’ve talked to him a couple of times in the past few days and he’s angry. I mean, really angry. He was angry that he’d lost two years of his life and he was looking to find a way to get that time back and to punish Lizzie.”
“So, not so much into the doing no harm to others anymore?”
“Exactly. I mean, he’s really messed up. I’ve tried to talk with him, get him some help, but he just keeps getting worse. I think it’s hard because he doesn’t actually have any family to help him through it either.”
“So, he might be open to a proposition from a dark witch?”
“I hate to say it, but he’s the only one I know who would be. I mean, I’m sure there are other angry, hurting people in this town, but that’s the one my money would be on.”
“He should be in the hospital,” Mark mused. “All that muscle atrophy and everything he’ll need physical therapy for quite a while.”
“Plus, no family to push for him to come home,” she added.
He nodded and stood. “Thank you very much for your help.”
“Thank you for finding my neighbor’s cat. I just hope you find mine.”
“I’ll do my best,” he said, wincing inwardly.
From the coffee shop he headed straight for the hospital. It was likely that Mother would know something about Samuel since the coma he was in was supposedly caused by Lizzie and the others could easily have bragged about that at some point.
When he walked into the ward where Samuel had been his bed was empty. He stopped and then realized that this was where the coma patients were and they would probably have moved him somewhere else in the hospital. As he headed out of the room he hailed a nurse who was walking by.
“Hi, I’m Detective Walters and I’m looking for Samuel Bannerman.”
“Oh, you just missed him. He checked out of the hospital a couple of hours ago.”
“Checked out?” Mark asked, surprised. “Who checked him out?”
The nurse smiled. “It was his Mother.”
As the afternoon arrived the excitement and tension at the church became palpable. Kids started showing up as soon as school was out, buzzing about the night’s dress rehearsal. When they started getting into costume and makeup the energy went sky high until even Cindy found herself getting jittery with anticipation.
Once it hit five o’clock Jeremiah showed up and the kids got even more amped. Dave was running around like a madman and Cindy realized it was a good thing she had agreed to stay and help.
Finished with one errand she headed to the back door of the gym which was closest. There just outside she ran into Zac and Sarah. Sarah was on the ground, her long hair stretched out straight above her head. Around her were a number of cans of white Halloween hair coloring spray and also an industrial can of regular hairspray, extra hold. Zac had a brush in one hand and was plugging a hair dryer into a socket with the other.
“What are you two doing?” Cindy asked, at a loss.
“Zac’s giving me hair that stands straight up, like the Bride of Frankenstein although obviously I’m not her.”
“Obviously,” Cindy said.
She walked into the gym shaking her head and found Wildman waving his arms around and directing people. He had a massive thermos in his left hand. He brought it to his lips and then lowered it with a look of disgust on his face.
“What’s wrong?” Cindy asked.
“Out of water,” he mumbled.
She took the thermos from him. “That’s easily enough fixed. What else do you need? Did you even eat anything today?”
“Yeah, I had something at lunch,” he said distractedly.
“Okay, good. I’ll be back with some water.”
She exited the front of the gym and made her way to the water fountains. To her disgust it turned out the water pressure was too low in them for some reason. She’d have to say something in the morning and get those fixed. There was another set clear on the other side of the church which she trudged toward.
Once she had filled the thermos she headed back. She walked into the gym and looked for Wildman who wasn’t where she’d last seen him. She walked further into the room and a sudden stench assaulted her. She looked around quickly. It smelled like something was burning. She took a few steps toward the back of the gym and it seemed to grow stronger. Then she heard a muffled exclamation coming from outside.
She ran to the back door. She looked out and saw that Zac was standing with a stricken look on his face. There on the ground was Sarah and her hair was on fire.
22
With a shout Cindy dumped the thermos of water on top of the burning hair and then stamped out the embers.
“I don’t know what happened!” Zac burst out.
“My guess? You got the really hot part of the blow dryer too close to some hair that was loaded down with hairspray,” Cindy said, panting.
“You burned my hair?” Sarah asked, sitting up with a stricken look on her face.
“I don’t think he got it too bad,” Cindy said, forcing a smile. “Besides, now you can be the awesome girl whose hair was on fire. Maybe you’ll become your own urban legend.”
The girl stared at her wide-eyed for a moment then burst into a grin. “Cool!”
Cindy let out a sigh of relief. That could have so easily gone the other way. “Here, let me help you get it sorted out.” She handed the thermos to Zac. “Fill this with water, find Wildman and give this to him, please.”
Zac nodded and disappeared inside. She didn’
t blame him. If she’d been the one to set Sarah’s hair on fire she’d be running.
When Jeremiah made it next door to the church he had discovered a level of chaos that he hadn’t seen in a long time. It was like a war zone. Wildman looked like he was going to have some sort of attack and collapse. After taking it all in Jeremiah realized that the best way he could help was by taking charge of the inside of the maze.
He had announced that once people were done with hair and makeup they were to report inside the maze to him. He dropped the lighting level in there, but they wouldn’t turn on the fog machines until just before they were ready to begin. With the lowered lighting, though, he could see what their costumes and makeup would look like from a guest’s perspective. Then he could put them in their position, make sure they had everything they needed, and give them some last minute scare tips based on their actual location and the things in that environment.
He didn’t know how things were outside the maze, but he had them now running smoothly inside with about half the kids in place. As he saw it all coming together he had to admit that Wildman’s vision for the haunted house had been amazing. It was like seeing the history of his people come to life in the most terrifying way possible. He had even decided that next year he’d work to see that the synagogue officially partnered with the church on this project.
There would be some people that wouldn’t be happy about that, but maybe he could sell it as the synagogue sponsoring the Jewish history portion, also known as the Old Testament as far as the church people went. It was a thought. He shook his head at himself. Look at him planning for next Halloween. It was like he was actually putting down roots.
Mark was sitting in the precinct staring at Daniels. “What do you mean you lost them?”
They had been able to go through footage from hospital security cameras and see a nurse helping Samuel into a car. They even got a pretty good look at the older lady who was driving and they had been able to run the license plates. The car was registered to a Janine Norton from Santa Cruz. They had a name and a face for Mother.
But absolutely no idea where she was still.
Daniels had been able to use his exceptional skills to track the car through half of Pine Springs only to lose it on the outskirts of town. From there it could have gone anywhere. At least he was able to flag the car so that police as far away as Los Angeles would be looking for it.
They had a lot more to go on than they’d had a couple hours earlier, but no matter how many times he reminded himself of that it still felt like they were back at square one.
Cindy walked Sarah into the office after unlocking it. She directed her to the bathroom that usually only staff used so she could have a little privacy and space to try and assess the hair damage. As she was walking over to her desk to grab a pair of scissors to snip off some of the singed edges the phone rang. Without thinking she picked it up.
“Hello?”
A burst of static came through.
“Hello, anyone there?” she asked again.
There was just more static. Sounded like someone was on a cell with terrible reception.
“If you can hear me, you’re not coming through at all. You might try hanging up and calling back. The office is actually closed right now, though, so it might be better if you wait until the morning.”
There was another burst of static and one word finally came through, “Morning”. Then more static and then nothing.
“Okay, I guess they’ll be calling back in the morning.”
She should have let the machine get it in the first place. She grabbed the scissors and headed to the bathroom. Fortunately, she didn’t have to snip too much off.
“I think it’s going to be okay,” Sarah said with a brave smile.
Cindy squeezed her shoulders. “Absolutely. You’ll be the belle of the haunted house.”
They left the office and headed back to the gym. It was getting close to time she realized and parents were starting to arrive and mill about outside. Some looked excited, others squeamish. Good for them, though, for coming out to support their kids anyway.
They got into the gym and Sarah headed straight into the haunted house. The line for it was going to start outside the gym and they actually had the exit at the side door that led directly to the parking lot.
That way if you’re scared to death you can get out of here fast, Cindy thought to herself.
Dave walked up to her. “I think we’re just about ready,” he said, taking a deep breath. “I just turned on the fog machines and the scary sound effects. I’ve got kids organizing the flow into the house. They know to put space between groups for optimal scare. I think I’ll be outside for a few getting the parents in line.”
“You should interview them afterwards, too.”
“Good idea. I’ve got two other floater kids I can use for that,” he said, lighting up. “Jeremiah has volunteered to stay in the maze tonight observing how everything goes so he can make adjustments before we officially open Thursday night.”
Cindy nodded. “Sounds like you’ve got things handled.”
“I do.”
“What do you need from me?”
“Can you stay with the kids at the front of the haunted house, at least for a bit? Make sure they’re leaving ten seconds between groups? Everyone’s a bit nervous so an extra pair of eyes around would be great.”
“Not a problem.” She gave him a swift hug. “Don’t worry. It’s going to be fantastic.”
He nodded and she walked over to stand next to the kids at the entrance to the maze. They looked younger and she figured they were probably Freshmen. They also looked really freaked out which was probably why they were outside of the maze instead of inside.
“Are you ready?” she asked with a smile.
One nodded and the other looked like she might throw up.
“It’s going to be great,” Cindy said.
Suddenly the gym door opened and a line of parents started walking in. Cindy turned and greeted them all with a smile, although belatedly she realized a scary frown probably would be more appropriate.
They let the first group in and within seconds they could hear screaming. The kids beamed excitedly and the next group of waiting parents looked a little sick. The kids kept right on mark, sending the next group in ten seconds after the first one. By the fourth group they’d definitely hit their rhythm and Cindy was relieved that they didn’t actually need her. Although she would tell Dave that it would probably be a good idea to have one adult, ideally a big tough looking guy, stationed at the front in case people got rowdy on the real nights. She smirked. Maybe she’d volunteer Jeremiah for the job the first two. The last night, though, they’d be at the Halloween party.
More and more screams started emanating from the haunted house so she guessed that the kids inside were really getting into the groove as far as knowing when to jump out at people. Jeremiah should be proud from the sounds of things.
They were about halfway through the number of adults she’d seen outside. It looked like it was going to be a successful dress rehearsal and probably over in another few minutes.
The next group went and a lone man stepped up to the line. There was something odd about him. He was old, but yet not in some weird way and she found herself trying to guess his age. There was something else about him that was bothering her, though, and she struggled to put her finger on it.
Acacia. The man smelled like burnt acacia. Cindy locked eyes with him. Something in her face must have given her away because a moment later he bolted into the maze.
“Stop!” she screamed, leaping forward.
And suddenly she was exactly where she didn’t want to be, running through the haunted house. All the guy had to do was make it to the end and he was in the parking lot and gone. She shouted for someone to stop him but quickly realized no one was going to hear her over the sound effects and the screams.
She was in the Egyptian plagues scene, trying to focus on the figure
ahead of her in the fog. She could see blood rolling down the walls and something wet that she hoped wasn’t blood was dripping all over her from above. She twisted around a corner and plague victim leaped out at her.
She screamed, but forced herself to keep running instead of spinning to a halt and beckpedaling like she wanted to.
Jeremiah. He was somewhere in here. He could help her if she could just find him. “Jeremiah!” she screamed at the top of her lungs as she ran.
She rounded another corner and a blast of hot air hit her in the face. Up and down the corridor there were fake flames and people wandering about with what looked like burned and melting flesh falling off their faces. Her heart started pounding even harder but she flew forward screaming, “Send Jeremiah to get me!” She hoped that someone would hear her and get him. Surely the kids would know where he was, but she couldn’t stop to ask. She had to keep the man in her sights.
They raced through the maze, passing clusters of laughing or screaming parents. When they reached the Samson scene and the floor was shaking beneath her Cindy stumbled, but managed to keep her feet. It had slowed the man down, too, and she managed to close the gap between them slightly as they rocketed into the middle of demon central complete with the animatronic pig that Dave had described squealing and looking demonic in its own right.
This section was by far the hardest to get through and she kept jumping and flinching as every possessed looking person lunged at her.
“Tell Jeremiah to find me!” she screamed over and over. It became the armor that she used to try and ward off her own mounting terror.
She put on the speed, racing through the Christians in the Coliseum scene, knowing that they were getting to the end and terrified that she wouldn’t be able to catch the man before he escaped.
Finally, the last room. Scenes of the end times and a massive dragon guarding the exit. The man flashed through the door and a figure lunged out from a curtain at Cindy. She screamed as he grabbed her before she realized it was Jeremiah.
I Will Fear No Evil Page 19
