Page 25

Now, apparently, it's my turn.

“Where are we going?” I manage to rasp out, though my ears feel like they're stuffed with cotton.

Earl's grip tightens on my arm as he pulls me through the pines, darkness swallowing us up. “I said keep your mouth shut.”

“You gonna shoot me, too?”

The Sheriff doesn't answer. He keeps trudging straight ahead despite the absence of light, even as I stumble over roots and bushes. Almost like he's walked this path before.

That thought sends a visceral shudder through my body.

It takes me tripping over a vine and nearly faceplanting into a tree for the shock to finally subside. All of my senses blink back online at once, hitting me full force along with the sound of my rapid breathing. Panic floods my veins, and I yank myself out of Earl’s grasp.

“Look, please,” I beg, letting out a sob when the barrel of his gun presses against my forehead. “I'll leave, okay? I'll just go. I won't tell anyone about this place and you'll never have to see me again.”

For a long moment, Earl says nothing. Rain trickles from the brim of his hat and somewhere deeper in the forest, thunder rumbles low across the mountains. The barrel never leaves my head.

Finally, he lets out a tired breath. “That's what Dennis said, too.”

My stomach drops. “What?”

“He begged too. Said he'd pack up and leave, but it was already too late. The creature marked him.”

A fresh wave of horror roils my stomach. “You… you killed your own son?”

“I had no choice!” Earl snaps, pressing the rifle harder against my skin. “I loved my boy. I tried blocking off the mine to keep him away, but it didn't work. I couldn't risk it. Couldn't risk my Dennis telling others the truth.”

“Telling others what? I don't fucking understand what you're telling me, you sick fuck.”

“You think I like what I had to do?” he growls suddenly.

Another sob sticks in my throat. “I don't know, man, just please let me go. Please. I won't tell, I promise.”

Earl scans the darkness around us. “My grandfather told me about it when I was a boy, about the first settlers who came here. Back when the mine was still open.”

All I can do is stare at him, unsure if I've finally lost my mind.

“They dug too deep,” he continues. “Started blasting tunnels through the mountain. Men started disappearing. At first they blamed it on accidents, or animals. Then each other.”

The forest seems unnaturally quiet now. Even the rain has slowed to a light drizzle.

“One night a dozen men went into these woods with weapons to hunt the creature, and do you know how many came back?”

A chill crawls up my spine when he gazes at me like he's actually waiting for an answer, and I shake my head tightly.

“One. That's it. And he came back with a message.” Lightning flashes somewhere above, flickering over the surrounding branches. When the darkness swallows everything again, Earl grabs me. “As long as we leave it alone and stay out of its way, it won't bother the town. My grandfather kept that promise, my daddy after him, and now the responsibility lands on me.”

“Oh, come on,” I growl, stepping forward when he shoves the gun into my spine. “You can't actually believe that bullshit?”

“Believe?” Earl lets out a humorless laugh. “Boy, I've spent my entire life burying people who didn't. And then it took my son. Now walk.”

A scoff leaves my raw throat. “Dennis didn't die because of some forest monster, Sheriff. He died because you killed him.”

“The truth gets people killed. Just like it did Manny and just like it's going to do to you.”

I open my mouth again, not even embarrassed by how much I want to beg for my life right now, but a lantern up ahead draws my attention.

It takes a few blinks before the figure we're walking toward takes shape, and relief immediately floods my system. “Uncle Gale! Thank god, please, tell the sheriff⁠—”