“Did you used to go there for cigarettes or something?” Maria asked.
“A friend of mine worked there. Leslie.”
“Did she visit you while you were in the hospital?”
Levi started to speak, but Adam interrupted him.
“The last time I saw Leslie was when she had Merle’s dick in her hand. She cut it off with a rock, trying to protect Hylinus.”
“Oh…”
“She was shot by a police detective named Ramirez,” Levi explained, taking over for Adam. “On the night of the fire, Detective Ramirez and Adam, along with several of their friends, confronted Hylinus during a mating ceremony. Mr. Senft’s wife, his friend, and several other women were…accompanying the satyr.”
“Ramirez,” Maria said. “I spoke with him on the phone earlier today. Seems like a week ago already.”
“He knew the truth,” Adam whispered. “And he let them railroad me anyway. Because he didn’t want to admit that he’d been wrong. He didn’t want to believe, even after being confronted with the proof. He was a coward.”
Maria slowed as they approached the alley. She switched her turn signal on, but before she could make a right into the alley, Adam flung the car door open and leapt out into the street.
“Adam!” Levi shouted.
Maria slammed on the brakes. “Oh shit.”
Before they could react, Adam had fled into the alley, disappearing from sight.
“What should we do?” Maria yelled.
“Go after him—drive!”
She turned into the narrow alley and her headlights speared the fleeing man. Maria floored it, and the car shot forward. But as they closed the distance between them, Adam stopped running. Holding his sides, he walked a few more feet and then stopped at the rear of a two-story house with gray vinyl siding. The house was sandwiched between the alley and Main Street. There was a detached garage and a driveway at the rear of the property, and a large oak tree in the center of the yard. A red Toyota and a blue minivan were parked in the home’s driveway. Adam glanced at them and then collapsed, kneeling in the driveway. He clawed at the stones, his hands curling into fists.
Maria glanced around. To her left was the community Fire Hall’s parking lot. Beyond it lay a grassy vacant lot and a playground with swings and monkey bars. Beyond the playground was a dark line of trees. To her right were a row of houses, including the one Adam knelt in front of.
“Pull into the parking lot,” Levi said. “Turn the car off. And the headlights, too. We can’t attract any attention.”
“Tell that to him.”
“I’ll handle Senft.”
He got out of the car and quietly shut the door behind him. Then he crouched down next to the crying man, put his hand on Adam’s shoulder, and whispered something in his ear. Maria rolled down her window, trying to hear the conversation.
“They changed the siding,” Adam said.
“I know,” Levi sighed, patting Adam’s shoulder. “But we have to be quiet. Okay?”
Shaking her head, Maria crossed the alley and parked the car. She yawned, realizing just how long it had been since she’d slept.
“Jesus…”
She was beginning to wonder if she’d ever have a good night’s sleep again. How could she, with all that she’d seen today?
Terry and Tom made their way along the winding trail, passing by the papier-mache Bigfoot cave, the pterodactyl’s nest, the haunted out house, the guillotine, and a grove of trees with fake skulls dangling from their branches. The creek flowed silently as they crossed over the little footbridge spanning it. The forest was absolutely silent and their high-powered flashlight beams barely penetrated the darkness. The blackness was so dense that the lime outlines along the path were almost invisible.
“We should have changed the batteries in these things before we left,” Tom said. “I can’t see shit out here.”
“It’s not the flashlights,” Terry replied. “They’ve got fresh batteries.”
“Well, then why is it so fucking dark? This is like walking through tar.”
“I don’t know, Tom. Maybe because it’s nighttime.”
“You don’t have to holler at me, Terry. I was just asking.”
Terry sighed. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I’m just worried, is all. Didn’t mean to take it out on you.”
They cupped their hands to their mouths and hollered for Cecil, Russ and Tina. The echoes ceased abruptly, swallowed up by the gloom. When their cries went unanswered, they reluctantly continued on their way, reaching the maze house.
“Ain’t no way I’m going in there tonight,” Tom said. “I get lost in it during the daytime.”
“Me, too,” Terry admitted. “Let’s go around.”
They stepped off the trail and skirted the edge of the sprawling, ramshackle building. Twigs snapped and leaves
