"But I thought you said Meeble was behind this?" Marsha clenched the sofa cushion tightly with both hands. "Now you're saying he might not be?"

"Perhaps not directly. This is still all just a theory. There's one more piece of the puzzle to put into place." He stood up and placed his hat back on his head. "And so, I've got to go back out for a little while."

"Like hell," Donny said, jumping to his feet. "If you're going back out there, then I'm going with you."

Marsha reached up and grabbed Donny's arm. "Oh no you're not."

Donny pulled away. His eyes remained focused on Levi. "Seriously. You can't face those fuckers by yourself."

"I'm not. God is on my side."

"You just got done telling us that God blew up an entire universe of people to make this one instead."

"Indeed. Can you think of a more powerful ally to have standing with you?"

"Even so, I'm coming along."

Marsha protested again, and the others all began to talk at once. Levi whistled, getting their attention.

"It's not open for debate, Donny. I appreciate your offer. I really do. But somebody needs to stay behind and watch over the others. Randy is still weak, and-"

"I am not." Randy swayed as he tried to stand. "Look, I'm fine."

Myrtle wagged a finger at Levi. "That's a very sexist thing to say."

"I'll have you know," said Esther, slowly rising to her feet, "that I knew how to shoot a rifle before I learned to read. I used to go hunting with my father all the time, Mr. Stoltzfus. That was how things used to be in these parts. I reckon I'm capable of defending myself. Myrtle and Marsha, too."

"You people seem to think I'm making a request. I'm not. This is an order."

"I'm not in the army anymore," Donny said. "And I don't take orders."

"No?" Levi glanced at Marsha and then back to him. "Would you like to know what I think, Donny? I think you're afraid to be left alone with Marsha. I think there's something unsaid between the two of you, and whatever it is, it scares you to death."

Donny opened his mouth to respond, but said nothing. He stared at Levi. The tips of his ears turned red.

"I want all of you to remain here. Remember, as long as you stay inside the house and don't try to leave, you'll be safe. You have my word on that."

Before any of them could argue anymore, Levi turned and hurried into the foyer. Sensing nothing outside, he opened the door, stepped outside onto the porch and closed the door behind him. The coast was clear. He whispered a fervent prayer, reciting from memory a benediction against enemies, sickness and misfortune that his father had taught him long ago.

"The blessing that came from Heaven, from God the Father, when the true living Son was born, be with me at all times. The holy cross of God, on which He suffered His bitter torments, bless me today and forever. The three holy nails which were driven through the holy hands and feet of Jesus Christ, bless me today and forever. The spear by which His holy side was pierced and opened, protect me now, today and forever. May the blood of Christ and the Holy Spirit protect me from my enemies, and from everything which might be injurious to my body and my soul. Bless me, oh you five holy wounds, in order that all my enemies may be driven before me and bound and banished. All those who hate you must be silent before me, and they may not inflict the least injury upon me, or my house or my premises. And likewise, all those who intend attacking and wounding me either spiritually or physically shall be defenseless, weak and conquered. The cross of Christ be with me. The cross of Christ overcomes all water and every fire. The cross of Christ overcomes all weapons. The cross of Christ is a perfect sign and blessing to my soul. Now I pray that the holy corpse of Christ bless me against all evil things, words and works."

When he was finished, Levi made the sign of the cross four times, to the north, south, east and west.

"Guide my hand. Your will be done, as always."

He took a deep breath and stepped off the porch. He felt naked and exposed. The prayer was the last of his powwow. From this point on, to defeat his enemy, he'd have to rely on methods and benedictions that were far older and far less holy than the one he'd just used.

Marsha slowly unclenched her fist and let go of Donny's arm. He winced. She glanced up and gasped. She hadn't realized it until just now, but her fingernails had dug into his skin, leaving angry red marks.

"I'm sorry."

He shrugged. "It's okay."

The group stared at each other in silence for a moment. Then Myrtle tiptoed over to the window and cautiously looked outside.

"Is he gone?" Esther asked.

"I think so," she whispered. "I don't see him, at least."

"Well, good riddance then."

Myrtle let the blinds fall closed and spun around. "Esther! There's no call for that. He's your boarder."

"And he can leave here come sunup. I won't have him under my roof another night."

"Oh, for God's sake!" Marsha bristled at this. "He's fighting for you. For all of us. How can you say that about him?"

"Because he's not doing this for us. You get to be as old as me, Marsha, and you'll see. I know how people are. I see through them. That man may think he's fighting for us, but if you really look at him, you'll see he's fighting for himself-and the way he's doing it is simply un-Christian. I won't have it here. Better to end up dead than in concert with the Devil. I know that you've been through a lot tonight, but trust me. Levi would sacrifice every single one of us if it meant defeating the enemy. I can see it in him."

"Listen to you," Myrtle said. "Do you hear yourself? This is a far cry from what you were saying about him earlier."

"Earlier, I didn't know. He's not what he seems."

Myrtle shook her head. "But he was praying, right before he left. I heard him whispering a prayer to God-the same God you believe in."

"Not my God."

"Fuck this shit." Donny started for the foyer. "I don't need to hear this crap."

"What are you doing?" Marsha grabbed for him again, not caring if she hurt him or not, but Donny shrugged her off. When he responded, he didn't look at her.

"I'm going with him. Somebody needs to watch his back."

Marsha put her hands to her face and stared at him, the realization sinking in.

"He was right, wasn't he? Levi was right. You're afraid to be left here with me."

Without a word, Donny strode toward the foyer. Seconds later, they heard the door open and close.

"It doesn't matter," Randy said. His tone was sullen. "None of us are gonna escape anyway. Nobody ever gets out of this town. Not before, and especially not now."

With Donny's silent departure confirming her question, Marsha collapsed onto the couch and put her arm around Randy. They comforted one another as best they could and waited to see who would return-Levi, Donny...or the crows.

Chapter Nine.

The darkness deepened. The moonlight dimmed. Thick, sluggish clouds crawled across the sky, blocking the feeble stars. Gone were the gunshots and screams. Gone, too, were people fleeing down the streets or across yards and vacant fields. All across Brinkley Springs, the dwindling number of survivors huddled in their homes and basements, tool sheds and root cellars, storefronts and barns, cars and trucks, praying for help and waiting for the inevitable.

And one by one, the inevitable found them. The shadows arrived...hungry.

Stu Roseman was pulled, kicking and screaming, from beneath his queen-size bed before being disemboweled. Mara Dobbs was yanked from her closet, where she'd hidden beneath a pile of blankets and towels, and was then drowned in her own toilet. Don and Jamie Mahan cowered inside their Ford Explorer, desperately trying every few minutes to start the unresponsive vehicle until both it and them were torn apart. Jerrod Hintz and Scott Balzer were discovered hiding in the butcher shop's walk-in freezer and were clubbed to death with half-frozen slabs of meat. Candy Winters ended up with her head sticking out of her vagina. Toby Paulson was suffocated with his own severed penis. Bob Parker was strangled with his own intestines. Rocky Quesada and Joy Oliva had their heads repeatedly bashed together until both were nothing but paste. Aaron Milano was impaled on a flagpole. His two cats were impaled above him. Jeremy Garner, Peggy Stanfield and Michelle Broadhurst were discovered cowering in a far, dark corner of Herb Swafford's hayloft. They were stabbed, cut, chopped and impaled by a variety of Herb's farm tools-pitchforks, axes, shovels and rakes. Herb's head and entrails lay in the mud outside the barn. His pigs would probably have eaten the scraps if the pigs hadn't been killed, too. So were his cows, sheep and one lone horse.

No matter where they hid, no one was missed. No matter how desperately they tried to escape or how valiantly they fought to save their lives, the end result was the same. Everyone had their turn. Everyone died. The shadows were as methodical and precise as they were ravenous and cruel. Human candles were snuffed in the night, never to shine again, and after their souls were devoured, the shadows moved on, leaving corpses in their wake.

A small few died of natural causes. Keith David, Rebecca Copeland and Bobbi Russo all died of heart attacks brought on by fear and stress. Tim Draper and Perry Wayne suffered massive strokes that left them paralyzed and unconscious, and ultimately breathless. Don Hammerton tripped while running down the street and cracked his head open on the curb. Robin Clark suffered a seizure, bit through her tongue and bled to death. In each of their cases, their souls drifted slowly upward, flaring brightly but briefly as they were absorbed by the invisible barrier.

Regardless of how they had died-murder or something more natural-the corpses didn't last long. There was no slow progression of decay and decomposition. Shortly after their death, the people of Brinkley Springs returned to the ashes and dust from which they had originally sprung.

And then, eventually, even the dust disappeared.

Donny stood beneath the tree in Esther's front yard and looked both ways down the dark street, trying to figure out which direction Levi had gone. Nothing moved. Even the wind had stopped. He listened for footsteps, or any other sound that would give away Levi's presence, but there was nothing. The silence made the tiny hairs on the back of his neck prickle. He'd been scared and nervous many times in Iraq. Hell, he'd been scared every day. But those fears were nothing like what he felt tonight.

And not all of it had to do with what was happening in the town.

He glanced back at the bed-and-breakfast, hoping to see Marsha peeking out the window at him, but the curtains remained closed. His heart sank, but what had he expected? He wished he could tell her how he felt, wished desperately that he could find the words to explain his revulsion from Brinkley Springs and his steadfast refusal to linger here any longer than he had to-even if it meant never seeing her again. But every time he tried to tell her, all it did was lead to miscommunications and further hurt feelings. It would be better for her if he just left again. She was stronger now. It wouldn't affect her the way it had the last time he'd left. She'd get through it. She was older now, and she had Randy and her- Well, she didn't have her parents anymore, did she? After tonight, she didn't have anybody left at all, other than her little brother...and him.

Something twisted in Donny's gut. He felt a hot flush of anger and resentment that his decision to leave had now been made even more difficult. How could he abandon her now, in the aftermath of all this? He hated himself for feeling that way and would never have admitted it out loud to anyone, but the emotions were there all the same. What the hell was wrong with him? Had the last few years fucked him that god-damned bad? Was he so self-fucking-centered that when his ex-girlfriend's parents were murdered, the only thing he could think of was how inconvenient it was for him?

Ashamed, he had a sudden urge to run back inside, take Marsha in his arms and apologize to her. What was he doing out here, anyway?

"I was about to ask you the same thing."

Donny gasped but did not scream. He was too startled to scream. He spun around quickly, pulling his arms in tight over his midsection and kicked out with his foot. The blow swept by Levi but didn't faze him.

"Jesus fucking Christ, dude! You scared the shit out of me. Don't you know not to sneak up on someone like that?"

"Language. I don't mind cursing, but neither do I appreciate you taking the Lord's name in vain."

"Sorry. You just really spooked me." Donny straightened to his full height again. "So, what...? You can read minds, too? How did you do that?"

"I have my ways."

"Well, you shouldn't have crept up like that. I mean, damn...I could have killed you just now, Levi."

"No, you couldn't have."

"You sure are a cocky bastard, Levi."

"I'm not cocky. I'm confident. Arrogance is a sin. Being prepared isn't. Now what are you doing out here? I told you to stay inside the house."

Donny grinned. "And I told you I don't take orders anymore."

Levi stepped closer, until his forehead was only inches from Donny's chin. As he stared up into the younger man's eyes, Donny saw the anger in his expression-and something else, too. Fear. Levi was afraid, he realized, and that only increased Donny's own uneasiness.

"Do you think this is a game? This isn't some comic-book or movie fantasy, where we defeat the bad guys with no consequences during the battle. I meant what I said, Donny. I can't protect you out here. I need you to go back inside, for my own sake as well as yours."

"I can handle myself, Levi. Trust me on that."

"I know you can. I have no doubts about your abilities, and I'm sure you'd be good to have at my side in a tough situation, but that's not what I'm talking about."

"Then what are you talking about? What do you mean when you say for your sake as well as mine?"

Levi's voice softened. "I...I have enough blood on my hands. Enough ghosts following me around. I don't need to add any more."

"Me either, Levi. You think I don't know about guilt? You think I don't know what it's like to kill somebody-I mean, what it's really like? That feeling you get in your stomach. The way it follows you through the day. Or how it feels to lose a friend-to watch them die right in fucking front of you-while you go on living? I reckon I know how that feels better than you think."

Levi stared at him for a moment. His expression changed, and for a moment, Donny thought the older man was going to cry. But then his features smoothed out again.

"Okay," Levi said. "I'm still not sure I understand your motivations, especially when you have a fine woman waiting inside who clearly loves you. In truth, though, I appreciate the company. It's not often somebody walks this road with me. But understand me, Donny. Your fate rests squarely on your shoulders. I can't protect you beyond the house. I can mask our presence somewhat, so that we can move about unmolested. But we're not going to be evading them for long. I need to confront them. That's the only way I'll get the information I need to stop this."

"Well, let's get to it, then. We can go find them or we can stand around here talking all night long. Which is it going to be?"

"You're not afraid?"

"Of course I'm afraid, Levi. I'm fucking terrified. And so are you. I can see it on your face. But if you think you've got a way to stop these...whatever they are, and I can help you do it, then I say we do it already."

Levi nodded. "Let's go. I have to find something first."

Donny followed him across the street, resisting the urge to glance behind them and see if Marsha was watching. A part of him hoped that she wasn't, but an even bigger part of him would have been disappointed if he turned and didn't see her. He hesitated, his steps faltering. His legs felt heavy.

"Do you happen to know which-?" Levi paused, noticing Donny's discomfort. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah."

"Having second thoughts?"

"No," Donny insisted. "I'm fine. What were you doing out here, anyway? Myrtle looked outside right after you left, and said she didn't see you. We thought you'd gone."

"I was, but then I remembered that I had to do some shopping first."

Donny frowned. "Shopping?"

"Yes, in a way. I was trying to figure out which one of these homes belonged to Myrtle. I'm certain that, given her proclivities, she probably has what I need."

"Proclivities? You mean all that New Age stuff?"

"Yes."

"So why not just knock on the door and ask her?"

Levi shrugged. "At the time, I was worried that if I returned, I'd have to argue with you about not coming with me again. But now that you're here anyway..."

Donny pointed across the street. "That's her house, over there."