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Chapter Eight

A nap was in order.

I didn't know if that was going to be possible as we pulled up to my house.

Maggie sat on my porch, watching each car go by. When she saw my car, she stood and crossed her arms. Mad? She didn't look mad. More concerned actually.

"Company not expected?" Mavis commented.

"Surprised, that's all."

"Maybe it has to do with work."

I doubted it. She hasn't been to my house since the night we... You get the idea.

"Maybe." I said.

I pulled the car to a stop. Maggie started coming towards the car, but noticed Mavis was in the passenger seat, then stopped.

Mavis hopped out. "I'll just go inside. Looks like she has something to discuss."

"Okay. Just make yourself at home. Eat, drink, be merry and all that shit."

Mavis strolled past Maggie and entered the house.

"Maggie, what are you doing here?" I met her on the sidewalk.

"I wanted to talk to you."

"Paper not going to make it out next week?"

"Has nothing to do with the paper, Grant."

"Let's sit," I suggested.

We went back to the porch and sat on the steps.

"Grant, what's been going on the past few days?"

"Just living," I replied. "Just living and trying to get past the deaths."

"We all are. I mean, with you."

"What do you mean?"

"You've been more distant with me at work than you have ever been. Sometimes when I see you, you seemed rushed. Other times, scared. And even sometimes you act like you don't want to be around people."

"By people do you mean you?"

"You know fucking well what I mean."

Maggie rarely cursed. When she did it was something serious. No jokes, no sarcastic little comments, no trying to make her smile. A cursing Maggie is nothing to be reckoned with.

"Do I?" I turned to face her. "Do I know? I knew you once. But now? I don't know."

"You did know me once, but it was your choice to stop knowing me."

"Really now. My choice? You do forget, don't you Maggie."

"That has nothing to do with then. I need to know what is going on. Why do people think you killed Miss Molly, Noonan, and Betty—"

"Don't forget about Noonan's grandmother."

"What?"

"The forest. Never mind."

"You're acting strange, Grant."

"I believe I'm acting just fine. Trying looking into a mirror, Maggie. Try looking at your own soul."

She humphed. "What the hell is that suppose to mean?"

"Why are you so concerned about how I've been acting all of a sudden?"

"I thought we were friends."

"Well, you sure had a funny way of being my friend the past few years."

"Work has to be work, you know this."

I knew it, but that's all it ever was. "I'm sure your new little boyfriend put you up to this." I tried to stop myself from saying it before it was out, but I couldn't. I said it and there was going to be either wrath or there was going to be nothing.

"'My little boyfriend'!?" she stammered.

Wrath, then.

"You have no idea what you are talking about," she said. "No idea at all."

"I see everything, Maggie. I am very observant."

"What do you see then?" she challenged.

If this is what she wanted, then so be it. "I see the way you look at him when he comes into the office. I see the way he looks at you. I see something between you and I don't know if it's love, friendship, or just his cock." I paused. "Probably his cock."

"Is that a reference to me being a whore?" She cracked her hand across my cheek.

"Not at all," I managed to say. "Just come clean with it, Maggie. You've probably been holding it back so I wouldn't get mad or jealous."

"You're already mad and I haven't even said anything."

"So it's true then."

She paused herself. I knew what was coming next. I knew what she was going to say. It would be just like getting stabbed, I can already tell. We haven't really been anything in a very long time, but I know it would be just like she was cheating on me.

"You already know what I'm going to say."

She fucking reading my mind or what?

"I just want to hear it."

"No you don't."

I did actually. I needed her to say it. To confirm my suspicions all this time.

"I do."

She turned the thought in her head. Maggie looked at me, searching for something that told her that I really didn't. When she didn't see anything,

"Bobby and I slept together," she said.

I didn't say anything.

"We are together," she added.

"How long?"

"I'm not doing details, Grant. I said what you figured was true. That's all I'm talking about."

"Fine."

Maggie stood. "That’s not why I came over here; to tell you about me and Bobby."

--me and bobby mcgee—

I shrugged.

"I still care," Maggie said. "I still care about you Grant. I still care about what happens to you, about what I see happening to you."

When I didn't say anything, she took a few more steps away.

"I can still be here if you want to talk."

"Okay."

"Grant, I mean it."

"I heard you!"

She was hurt. Maggie turned around and walked away, not looking back once.

I entered my own house. I heard Mavis in my kitchen. He was running water and removing plates from my cupboard. The porcelain clinks grated my nerves. My footsteps on my hardwood floor grated my nerves. The blaring TV grated my nerves.

Mavis emerged from the kitchen drying his hands.

"Hey. Everything okay?"

"Yeah. Fine."

"You sure? You don't look fine in the face."

"I'm sure. Just tired."

"If you say."

--I say I fucking say just let it be let me be let me be in my room all alone Maggie and bobby fucking her tits bouncing on his chest unless she likes it on the bottom or doggie style then her beautiful tits rubbing on the bed—

"Gonna go lay down in my bed, Mavis. Really tired."

"I'm making dinner."

How long have I known this guy? Less than a Goddamn day? He's already making me dinner in my own house? Best friends forever, that's me and Mavis

--me and mavis mcgee—

I needed to lie down badly.

Upstairs, I took off my sweat-stained shirt and threw it into the corner on top of other unwashed shirt. I shut the door quietly and stretched across my bed, looking up at the ceiling, half-expecting the banshee to be up there, ready to mount me and have ghost-sex with me.

But she wasn't there. Just the boring white ceiling with nothing to offer but plainness.

Maggie just didn't understand that I was in love with her. Since that night, since before that night.

What went wrong? It wasn't that night. Sure we fucked, but there was a lot more emotion in that night than I have ever had. It wasn't just about the sex. It was more. It was in the heart. I know I'm going to sound like a queer, but I made love to Maggie with my heart that night.

So it was after that night. Something gradually built a barrier between us. There was never another night. Hell, there was never another day. Just work.

Work has to be work. Since then, Work has to be work. That's all we've been. Fucking co-workers.

Between then and now, something.

Something that I definitely couldn't ask Maggie about. I'd probably get another slap on the face.

This was ridiculous. I couldn't sleep. Thinking about Maggie and sex and Bobby and her and sex. There was no point in trying to relax up here with my thoughts.

Whatever Mavis was cooking smelled absolutely fucking wonderful. I don't remember the last time something like this smelled this good in my kitchen. Oh, I can remember many days and nights where this kind of smell would surround me when I was ten and would come home from a baseball game. My mother would be in apron having her way with the oven and the cutlery and the vegetables.

Much to my dislike, she used vegetables.

This was the same kind of smell that was now in my kitchen.

"Whatch you got cooking in here?" I said after enjoying the smell.

Mavis jerked around. "Oh! Grant. Shepherd's Pie. Just found some stuff in your fridge and went from there."

That means vegetables. Mavis and my mom and their vegetables.

"Smells good. I'm starved."

"Thought so," he said. "Be ready in about 20 minutes."

I opened the fridge and pulled out a beer. "Beer?"

Mavis nodded. "That's a start."

I opened a bottle of Miller Lite and handed it to him.

"Thanks."

I sat at the table.

"So Mavis, tell me something."

"Sure." He put his creation in the oven, turned the dial, and set the timer. "What would you like to know?"

"You."

"Me? What could I possibly have for you to know?"

"Oh come on. Tell me a ghost story. Surely ghosthunters have the best ghost stories."

"We do, we do, but nothing really interesting."

"Well just tell me about your first encounter. That should prove interesting."

"I was 25 and was an apprentice to Yohainne McCormick. I know that sounds like a weird combination of names but he was Ukrainian and Scottish. So he was drunk most of the time, but he knew his ghosts and knew where to find them. He was getting on in his years and needed to take someone on to take over the business.

"And I say business because he was an old time Ghostbuster. Nothing like that movie makes them to be. Guys carrying nuclear devices to trap ghosts. Please. He used his wits and experience to find ghosts and rid them.

"The year he turned 60 turned detrimental for him. There was a castle in Ireland that he was summoned to. The castle was owned by Baron Richlackey who owned the land running 100 miles in all directions. He owned the towns, the businesses, everything. Him and his area was a modern day feudal system mixed in with a little modern day mob action.

"So that year Yohainne turned 60 he was summoned by the Baron. You don’t turn the Baron down. This was during a time when loyalty ran rampant through the world and if you were caught with your hand in someone else’s cookie jar when your boss's cookie jar gave you plenty, then bad things happened to you.

"Yohainne arrived not knowing why he was there. He brought me mainly for company at first, then as things started to happen, he was glad to have me along for protection and extra muscle because what we were about to encounter would take more than just us. I was lucky to just escape with a broken nose and a couple of shattered ribs. Yohainne was not so lucky.

"Our first meeting with the Baron was our only meeting:

The Baron strode into the dining hall with clichéd abandon. He was tall with shoulder-length dark hair that curled outward. The Baron was young, around 30, and it was odd to see someone around my age a Baron. We sat when he told us.

The Baron spoke first. "I will get to the point. You are here to clean this castle of a ghost. The ghost is my father and it is time for him to go."

Yohainne sat forward. "Is your father dangerous? Why do you think he's here?"

"I don't care why he's here. I just want him gone. He's scaring everyone who works for me. He's a nuisance to me." The Baron waved over his butler. "Here is a quick dossier on my father. Hopefully it may help you figure out what you need to do to eradicate him."

Yohainne glanced over at me. I knew he was thinking something was wrong here, that we'd find more than necessary.

And we did. We found out why the Baron needed to rid the castle of the ghost. We found secrets that would soften the most hardened man alive. The details aren't important, just that the Baron was a most foul human being. Ghengis Khan was a saint next to the Baron, but we didn't have time to debate who was better.

Let's just say the Baron didn't need his father meddling around the castle giving away all the family and business secrets for the world to know.

The Baron bid us a goodday. We were shown to our lavish rooms and left to our own accord. We were told the castle was open to us except for one room in the basement of the castle. Only the Baron was allowed in there.

Of course that meant that we would go down there to see what the deal was. Maybe that one room in the basement was the one room that would give us what we needed to get rid of the father.

Grant, I suppose you're wondering why we didn't say no, or why we didn't just leave right away. It was very simple: money. The Baron offered us two million dollars. Half on arrival and half upon successful completion of our task. It just came down to money. That was a pretty penny to Yohainne, so I quite understand why he didn't want to leave.

As soon as we figured the castle was quiet with inactivity, we set about our preliminary tasks. Reconnaissance and note-taking. I followed Yohainne with a notepad and pencil and jotted down everything he said. I tried to at least. Sometimes he would get on this roll and I'd only get about half of what he said. I never told him that, I just wrote down what I could. I'm sure he knew something but he never said.

"We are heading straight to the basement," Yohainne said.

It took us about 20 minutes to find the room, but we did. The door was padlocked in four places. At the bottom of the door, I saw a thin piece of wire.

"Master McCormick, look." I pointed it out.

Yohainne knelt down and followed the wire to the nearest corner by the door. It was attached to a plain black box.

"A bomb," he said. "This room is meant to keep everyone but the Baron out. Interesting."

He examine the padlocks. "Archaic locks, Mavis. Easily removed."

Yohainne dug into his suit jacket pocket and removed a thin piece of metal no bigger than a nail file. He tested its strength and, satisfied, began the process of picking the locks.

Where my master learned this trade is beyond me, but he had all four of the padlocks undone within two minutes.

"You ready, Mavis?"

I nodded.

The door opened inward. Yohainne made sure to step over the wire, then he reminded me to do the same. There was no light but it appeared to be a hallway of some sort.

Soon, Yohainne flicked on a flashlight and we were looking down a long hallway.

"I guess it's this way," he said.

"Are you sure you want to do this, Master Yohainne?"

He laughed. "Of course I do. When someone tells you not to go somewhere, then that is the first place you go. The Baron does not want us to find something and that something is obviously down here. That something could also be why his father is haunting this castle. Do you understand?"

He always said 'Do you understand' when he didn't think I was listening.

"Yes, I understand."

"Good, now let's continue. You hold the light." He handed me the flashlight and I aimed it down the hallway.

Except for a small bend to the right, the hallway was relatively straight. We went down a small incline after about 300 feet. Another 50 feet and the hallway opened up into a medium sized cavern.

I shone the light upward. The ceiling was about 20 feet up and dirt. I shone the light ahead. Another hallway angled to the right and I saw no ending.

"This place underground?" I asked.

Yohainne didn't answer. I followed him with the light and saw that he was headed for the wall. "Mavis, bring the light over here."

I took a few steps and aimed the light in Yohainne's general direction. But I didn't take any more steps. What I saw was enough to stop a train.

I dropped the light and Yohainne was quick to race over and pick it up.

"You okay, Mavis?"

He didn't give me a chance to answer. He was back over to the wall.

The easiest way I can put what I saw was that there were tombs in this room. Lined up from wall to wall and from floor to ceiling. Tombs with bodies. Not skeletons, but bodies. Everyone laid to rest as if they had just popped off for a quick nap.

When I had regained my stomach, I was able to actually see how many bodies were in here. I counted 150 tombs in this room. The hallway ahead probably led to another cavern with more tombs and more bodies.

"Master Yohainne, this doesn't feel right."

"Of course not.

Something scrapped against the second hallway walls. We both looked into the hallway. Yohainne removed a pistol from his jacket.

"Mavis, get behind me."

The scrapping quickly got louder.

"You think it's him?" I ask Yohainne. "The father?"

"Either him or the Baron and if it's the Baron, we are screwed."

There was a small grunt as a swirling mist started to enter the room.

"And I don't think it's the Baron."

Soon, the mist was followed by a large human form. It wasn't human, but that's the only way to give you a comparison of what it looked like. It floated above the ground and it had no legs. Just a torso and a head.

"There we go," I heard Yohainne say. He pulled a black and white photograph from his pocket and showed it to me.

"The father," he said.

The ghost turned around and entered the hallway again. It stopped and hovered there, it's back to us.

"I think it wants us to follow him," Master McCormick said.

Despite having the worse feeling of dread, I knew Yohainne was going to follow the father into the hallway. Into whatever sat at the end of the hall.

We followed and the hallway was nearly exactly the same as the first and even went on the same incline right before another cavern. This cavern was larger and appeared to hold more tombs. The father went to the center and hovered a little higher, giving us more light to see by. More tombs, more bodies.

"Master Yohainne, what is going on here?"

"I don't know. I don't know."

Behind me, I heard something else messing with the padlocks. "Shit, it's the Baron."

"What your language Mavis." He pointed to a tomb. "Quick. Inside one of those."

"What?"

"Get inside one of the tombs and hide."

I walked to the nearest one and looked at the woman who was about my height and long blonde hair. She was very pretty. How did she keep like this? I climbed in inside and had just enough room to shuffle myself over her body. I laid on the other side. I was able to look between her chin and the top portion of her neck and see Yohainne searching for a tomb he could fit inside.

Then the Baron walked in.

"Yohainne," he said. "What are you doing in here?"

"Checking things out. My job."

"You were told not to come in here. This is very bad for you."

"It's obvious why you didn't want me to come in here."

"Yes, obvious," the Baron mumbled.

Then the Baron suddenly reached out and grabbed Yohainne's neck with both his hands. Yohainne didn't really know what hit him. The Baron pulled him closer then smiled. He smiled big and then took a huge chunk from Yohainne's neck. The bite left a gaping hole.

Blood gushed in vast amounts. More than should be gushing.

I couldn't watch anymore. I turned my head away, hoping the Baron would just leave.

But I heard more skin ripping. I heard bone crunching. I heard everything that I didn't want to hear. Things that I would never hear again.

When all those sounds stopped, I turned by head back and watched Baron spit out a chunk of Yohainne, then walk back towards the first cavern.

I heard the door slide open, then shut. I listened for the padlocks, but nothing happened.

I stayed in the tomb for at least 30 minute before I decided to get out of the tomb. I tip-toed past Yohainne, trying not look, but I couldn't help it.

I couldn't tell it was Yohainne. I couldn't tell what was what on my former mentor. The gun was easy to spot. I picked it up, just in case.

"Suffice it to say, I got out of there and ran to the closest town," Mavis said.

"Did the Baron catch you at all?"

"Well, almost. When I got to the town, there were some people that followed me, but I was able to catch a bus out of there and found a town not owned by the Baron."

"Sorry about Yohainne," I said. "That's some story."

"My first experience. Hardly ghostly, but set me up for the life."

"You ever been back to that castle?"

"Hell no. The Baron was a scary fellow. No way I want to meet him again."

"I don't blame you."

"So you've been doing this a long time."

Mavis nodded. "Thirty years."

"So what was the father? Just a simple ghost?"

"I think it was a banshee, but I never had the opportunity to investigate further." Mavis finished his beer. "Mind if I have another?"

"Go ahead."

"But banshees are rare. They are like the Holy Grail for ghosthunters."

"Which is why you rushed to this wonderful Ilton township."

"Yep. I'd be lying if I said it was for the interest of Paranormal science."

"It's okay. I'm glad you're here."

"Thanks."

I stood up. "Look, I'm going to shower and change before I eat."

"Okay. I'll get it ready."

Honors History camping trip.

For doing a great job in the class, Mr. Hodgkins decided to take everyone camping. There were about 15 of us, including my girlfriend, Laura. She promised that something special would happen.

And to a 17-year-old, I hoped something special meant something sexual.

We went to the state park located about 20 miles from Ilton. It was hard to select who would be staying in who's tent since I wanted Laura to stay in mine, but it was boys with boys and girls with girls.

Everyone knew that during the night, things would switch. Boys with girls, and girls with boys. Laura with me.

But it was earlier than the night. Most of the students had decided to go fishing except for me and Laura. We decided to hang back and stay in my tent for a few moments.

Which I hoped would start that something special.

Laura zipped the tent shut and told me to lie back. I did. She crawled to me and straddled me. I immediately got an erection. Who wouldn't.

Next, Laura slipped off her t-shirt, exposing her black bra. Her breasts were nearly shoved together and it looked like her nipple was ready to say hello.

"What's going on?" she playfully asked.

"Me is going on," I replied. "I'm going on and going up."

She laughed. "I can tell."

She pushed her pelvis into my erection and it felt nice.

Laura bend over and gave me a soft kiss, her tongue teasing my bottom lip.

"How would you like that tongue on your hardness?"

"Why the fuck would I say no?"

She eased back and slid back far enough to undo my pants. As her fingers latched on to the zipper, we heard

An amazing shrill pierce the tent.

We both looked outward, even though neither of us couldn't see anything.

She removed her hands and grabbed her shirt. "What was that?"

"I don't know," I said. "Fucking loud is what it was."

I leaned up and wait for a moment while my erection went down. I redid my pants and unzipped the flap.

"Where are you going?" Laura asked.

Another shriek shot through the tent.

"To see what that is."

"No, just wait. It'll pass."

"That's already twice, Laura. Someone might be in trouble."

I exited the tent and stood looking around. Nothing looked out of the ordinary. I felt Laura emerge from the tent.

"Which way do you think it was?" I asked.

"I don't know. Don't care. I'm going to find the others."

"Fine."

I took off in the direction I thought the scream was, but I wasn't sure. It didn't sound natural. It actually sounded like—

I tripped.

I fucking tripped on a fallen tree. Something moist started soaking through my jeans on my knee. I looked down, it was blood.

"Dammit!" I yelled.

I wiped off the dirt and leaves that attached to the blood-stained area and squeezed my knee. It didn't hurt, so I figured everything was okay.

When I stood up, I saw her.

And it was the same her that I saw hovering around my mother[B6] when she died and the same her that scared my father the time he died. Now she floated in front of me, glaring at me like I had done something horribly wrong.

Was I next?

Her gaze left mine and I watched her eyes aim for something behind me. I turned and standing in the tall brush was Laura. She stood like stone, like me when I first saw the woman.

"Laura!" I screamed. "Run!"

She didn't move.

The woman's mouth open and I knew what would happen, but I didn't have time to plug my ears.

The shrill again.

That fucking shrill.

This time I was next to it and had no tent to absorb some of the noise.

But it was short this time.

--short sweet and to the point—

And I think the point was Laura.

"Laura! Run!"

Something snapped inside Laura. She looked at me, then the woman, then realized what I had said because she did run. Within a few seconds she was out of eyesight.

I whipped my head back around.

The woman was gone too.

I found Laura crying in my tent. Her eyes burnt red from constantly rubbing the tears from her eyes.

As I entered the tent, she rubbed again, harder. Some of the skin returned it's peach color, but the rest of it around her eye stayed patchy red.

"Grant," she blubbered, "what was that?"

"I don't know." But I did know. I sure as fuck didn’t know. What I didn't know was what was going to happen next. I could make an educated guess.

"Laura, I want to you stay with me tonight," I asked.

"Why?"

"I need you to stay with me."

"You can't be thinking about that."

"Not that." I sighed. "Just to be safe from that thing."

She looked at me, probably trying to wonder if I was being serious about my request or if I really just wanted sex.

"Please," I begged.

"Okay." I sat down. "Sit up."

She did and I eased my way behind her. I straddled her so she could lean back between my legs into my chest.

"It will be okay, Laura. I promise."

"Okay."

It looks like that's all I was going to get out of her.

"We will just stay here all night until everyone is ready to leave in the morning," I said.

This time she just nodded.

I didn't realize how late it was because soon day turned into night…

And I must have drifted off to sleep…

I drifted back into the real world by some kind of human scream. At first, I thought it was HER, but soon realized that it was one of my classmates. My eyes slowly opened.

Shit shit shit.

My arm flopped to the side. I didn't feel Laura.

Shit shit shit.

I perked up and checked the tent, still no Laura.

"Laura!"

No answer.

"Laura!"

"Grant?"

It wasn't Laura. Where the fuck was Laura?

Another scream, and then some chatter. My honors class.

I bolted from the tent but was stopped by the scene before me.

All 12 of my classmates stood in a circle, their heads all down. I caught a glimpse of Mr. Hodgkins kneeling on the ground, checking something.

Greta was mumbling something. "I saw…why didn't…I can't believe…"

I ran over and broke through the diameter.

"What's going on," I said. Then I myself looked down and saw Laura.

She was a bloody mess. Her body had been bent at the waist and she was arched backwards like some weird and grotesque Yoga position. Her limbs tangled around each other; I didn't know what was her arm and what was her leg. A huge gash ran from hip to hip on her belly and I could tell now how whoever did this got her to bend like that.

"Oh my God," was all I could manage.

Greta hugged me, sobbing. "Grant. I saw her last night. She came from…your tent. I passed her right over there—" I felt her point, but I didn't look. "—she said she had to pee."

Mr. Hodgkins. "All right, class. I called emergency and they should be here any minute. Let's all go back to our tents and try to calm down."

A few turned and scattered back to their tents. Greta pushed back.

"Would you mind if I hung with you?" She asked. "I'm scared.

"Okay." She guided me back to my tent. I glanced back at Laura, then up into the trees, half-expecting the woman to appear.

She didn't.

The investigation with the class was short. Within 30 minutes, the detectives had talked to all of us to get a feel for the situation, then sent us on our way.

They obviously spent a little more time with me, but their conclusion was an animal attack. A bear, they said. Something large, they said.

A fucking bear in Ilton? The closest thing we ever had to a bear was Big John Johnson. He had a bushy head of hair…well, let's just say he was Robin Williams with two more feet in height and ten times the amount of hair. I don't think Big John Johnson killed Laura.

I knew, but damn if I was going to tell the police that.

I didn't know it at the time, but that case would never be solved, no one would ever--

"—find out." Something rattled my arm.

"Grant, what won't we find out?" It was Mavis. "You awake?"

I slowly opened my eyes. Was there a scream? I thought I heard a scream.

"Grant, wake up."

Drowsy, "Fuuu-uuck."

My head pounded like a constant pendulum. I squeezed my temples, but that did nothing. "What--?"
"You were having a dream," I distantly heard Mavis say. "A bad one from what I can tell. You okay?"

I sat up and felt beads of sweat nesting my sideburns.

"Yeah, fine. Just a nightmare."

"Wanna share?"

I looked at Mavis, wanting reassurance that if I told him, everything would be okay. He must have saw that, but instead of reassurance I got,

"You don’t have to if you don't want to. If it's too personal, I'm fine with not knowing." He stood up.

"Wait," I said. So I told him. I told him all about that day and that night. I told him how it was suppose to be a great night with Laura. I was going to lose my virginity, I was going to have sex or make love…whichever because I was too young to know the difference. I told him about the daytime vision of that woman. I told him how we had fallen asleep—how I had fallen asleep and awoke the next morning to find that Laura had left my tent and been brutally killed.

I almost wasn't able to tell him. Near the end I was welling up from the emotion, but I told him.

He came back to sit next to me and put an arm around me.

"We'll figure this thing out," he said. That was enough reassurance for me.

"I hope so."

"We have to, Grant. It's like our backs are against the wall. You have to because this thing has been terrorizing your family for years and now it's terrorizing you. I have to because this could be my only chance in my life to see one, to actually prove that one exists. We also have to so that people stop dying in your little down. Soon, you guys will have to change the population tally drastically."

I tried to muster a laugh, but as I said before, it was a long time before we laughed together. This wasn't the time the smiles would break.

After settling down, I stood.

"Mavis, I need to show you something."