CHAPTER 44.

"This doesn't make sense. You know the Nephilim aren't real."

Rory held a wet rag to the cut on his head. Anna looked at Myrtle, then her father, and finally rested her gaze on Rory. They were all huddled around the counter at the general store, discussing what Rory had seen earlier. For the moment, they had decided not to call Sheriff Truitt. None of them knew how to explain what Rory had witnessed. They would tell the sheriff once they found out what was really going on. If they found out.

Anna was taking a rational approach to Rory's story, but her nervousness told Rory she was on edge. He glanced at Myrtle. The color had drained from her face when she heard about Lillian, and it hadn't returned. Jimmy seemed pensive.

"The Nephilim aren't real," Anna repeated.

"I know," Rory said. She took the washcloth from him. He was grateful for her kindness, relieved that she didn't seem angry with him anymore. "They aren't supposed to be real," he continued. "But I know what I saw out there, and I can't think of anything else to explain it." He shifted painfully in his chair.

Once he'd gotten his wits about him, Rory had hiked until he found a trail back into town, wary of running into the people from the clearing. But he'd seen no one until he found Anna, Myrtle, and Jimmy at the store. After they'd fretted over his disheveled and b.l.o.o.d.y appearance, Anna had closed the store. Both women helped clean and bandage his wounds. Now, as they discussed what Myrtle had seen at the cafe earlier, and what Rory had seen and been through, Rory felt his muscles tightening up, and he noticed how sore his body was. He desperately wanted a hot shower.

"I saw them, too," Myrtle said. Her hands fiddled with the tablecloth, kneading the fabric. "People are being taken."

"Who were the others?" Anna asked.

Rory shrugged. "Hikers. Folks renting cabins. Who knows?"

"Like before." Jimmy said it so softly they barely acknowledged him.

"And Lillian, and Joan..." Myrtle's voice cracked.

"Oh, Myrtle," Anna said. "It's awful. But isn't there some logical explanation for all this?"

Rory exchanged a wary look with Myrtle. "Like what?" he asked Anna. What would they do if she didn't believe them? And did he really believe?

Anna frowned. "Maybe it was a strange ceremony or some cult thing. There's supposedly a lot of satanic stuff that happens in the mountains."

"That could be," he said. "Except that both Myrtle and I saw them hypnotize someone. And Myrtle saw Samuel take Joan away."

"Are you sure they were hypnotized, that it was against their will?" she asked, doubt in her voice.

"As sure as I can be," Myrtle said. Her fingers continued to work at the tablecloth fabric.

"Look, something happened in that clearing. Ed and the others managed to conjure up something very real, and very evil. Whatever it was that came out of the sky was not of this earth."

"Was it like what you saw in New York?"

Rory stared at Anna. He didn't want to answer. But he couldn't escape it. "Yes."

"So how does that tie in?"

"I don't know."

"What's this?" Myrtle asked.

Rory gnawed at his lip, hesitant to open himself up, to let more people into what had haunted him for the past few weeks. "I saw a similar kind of mist." He stopped and took a deep breath. Myrtle urged him on, calmness in her eyes. He plunged in, relating everything he'd told Anna earlier. They listened, letting him tell his story without interrupting.

"But what does that have to do with the Nephilim?" Myrtle threw the question out when he'd finished.

"I don't know," Rory repeated.

"What if you're wrong?" Anna voiced the common concern.

"Then it's something else," Myrtle said. "And we'll just have to figure it out."

He blew out a long sigh. "She's right. If it isn't the Nephilim, then we find out what it is. And we'll deal with it then. We'll go to Ed's place and see what we find. Then we go to the clearing. We have to get to the bottom of this."

"It's Nephilim," Myrtle said. "Just like before."

"Right, we're going to believe the rumors because it came from such a great, reliable source." Anna got up and straightened some shelves, banging canned goods around while she talked. "Everything that Brewster said must be right." She finally stopped and looked at Rory. "This is unbelievable."

Man, she's beautiful, Rory thought. Even when she's mad. "We need to know as much as we can about the Nephilim, and what they want with us now," he said calmly. "We need to find them, and then we'll have to kill them."

Myrtle pursed her lips. "You think they're out at Ed Miller's place?"

"That seems logical, but they could be anywhere."

"Let's go there," Anna said. "There's still a few hours before it gets dark. Let's see what we can find out about these things."

"We better find something to use as a weapon," Rory said.

"I've got guns," Myrtle said in her matter-of-fact tone.

They stared at her, eyebrows raised.

"Don't look so surprised. My husband had them, and I never got rid of them. Makes me feel safe," she said with a shrug.

Myrtle, frontier woman, modern day Calamity Jane. Rory smiled, the first bit of genuine humor he'd felt in hours. "Tell me where they are, and I'll get them."

Fear spread across the old woman's face. "I don't like the idea of you going with those things out there."

"I'll be careful," Rory said for the second time that day, hoping this time he didn't run into trouble.

Myrtle explained where to find the guns and ammunition.

What have we got ourselves into, Anna thought, as she watched Rory leave the store. We better be right about this, or we'll have a lot of explaining to do.

CHAPTER 45.

Brewster had arrived too late to help Rory. He'd followed Rory as he walked out of town, but before Brewster could talk with him, Rory had seen what had happened in the clearing. He'd seen the evil, but would he know what it was, or how to deal with it? And then Rory had disappeared.

The Nephilim were moving, so Brewster had to hide. But he could tell Ed was in a rage. And he sensed what Ed knew, that Rory could go either way. Rory had the spirit of the Other One, the One who had disrupted the ceremony, when his grandfather was alive.

His daddy's voice was ringing in his ears, annoying him. But what it told him was priceless.

Your granddaddy talked to the miner. The miner could go either way.

What way?

Don't you listen, boy? That miner knew things, too. He had a Spirit on his side, One that knew to warn him. They were chasing him, but that other Spirit helped him. And then the miner knew to chronicle things.

What's 'chronicle'?

What's the use of schooling you, boy? Then he'd shake his head. That miner had a role, too, else why do you think they'd want him? Only he figured it out, and wouldn't let 'em get him.

Brewster ma.s.saged his chest. Was that who Rory was? It made sense, him being a writer. And that other aura that seemed to be around him. He had to find Rory, then, and warn him.

Brewster watched Ed and wondered if he reckoned that the other Spirit was out there, trying to thwart him. This was deadly, for it would only make Ed the gatherer more dangerous. And that meant things were going to happen fast. He had to figure out how to deal with these evil things, before they took over the entire town.

Brewster snuck away through the woods, quiet as a phantom until he came to The John Dandy mine. He walked around the dilapidated shack and farther up the hill to another mine, little more than a lean-to near an outcropping of rocks. Trees hid it well, and no one ever knew or remembered it was there. Except Brewster, because his granddaddy worked this mine for a while, until he realized there wasn't any valuable ore to be found. Even as Brewster approached the lean-to, the voices grew louder in his head, his daddy first and then his granddaddy, telling him what to do.

It's the water, boy. That's the key.

Why?

Don't argue with me boy. Listen!

Brewster sat down in the shade of the lean-to and listened as the voices shared their secrets.

CHAPTER 46.

Ed and the other spirits had remained in the clearing since Rory disappeared from view. Ed was silent as the others watched from nearby, waiting. Finally, he turned in a full circle, closing his eyes, shutting off the light that stabbed through the trees. He drew in a deep breath, savoring the subtleties in the air. He remained still, letting the earth speak to him.

It was the chronicler.

Ed opened his empty eyes and a.s.sessed the group. They were so close. The spirits were coming, their destinies in place. They had waited for over a hundred years. The time was so near. And the chronicler was here. Soon the doors would open, and they would be free.

But the last three had to be gathered the preacher, the one with the law, and the chronicler. He raised his mangled hand and pointed to Gino D'Angelo, the one with the air. "Bring the preacher."

Gino tipped his head in answer. His obsidian eyes didn't burn with the rage that had terrified his wife and son for years. But the complete lack of expression that replaced it was spookier still. He moved off through the trees, Mary plodding behind him like a faithful dog. Her face was also void of any expression.

It was time the one who carries the law and the chronicler a.s.sumed their places as well. Ed turned to the others. "Prepare the site." He did not need to communicate who would do what. They knew, quietly going about the task.

Soon the one who preaches would come and deliver his verse. The one who knows the law would verify it. And the chronicler would record it, so the others would know of enlightenment.

He looked at the bushes again. The chronicler had disappeared. They would need him. The sun was leaving a wounded path as it descended over the western horizon.

Ed moved off by himself. The spirit within him was troubled. The chronicler would prove a tough conquest. He had sensed the Other Force when he had seen the chronicler. The chronicler had the Other One on his side, the spirit was certain. Ed's mouth twisted into a vile grimace. The One before had returned. He had foiled them once, so long ago. That One had a power of his own. He had cheated them before and He was trying again, just as everything was ready and they were about to be free. The spirit howled within him with preternatural energy.

The chronicler had disappeared, but he would be back. He had the calling. The blood had been left for him, as it had been once before, for the other chronicler. That one had thwarted the plan by his chosen death. He had been strong.

Like this chronicler, the spirit in Ed sensed. A smell like rotting flesh swirled around Ed. He would not let this chronicler disrupt the plan. Hatred grew within spirit and man. They had the power. The chronicler would succ.u.mb. Or he would suffer such that he would wish for the release of death.

Ed stomped off down the path. Their enlightenment would not be thwarted again.

CHAPTER 47.

Anna peered through the front window of the general store. The sky was cloudless and blue. She looked up and down Main Street. No one was about, highly unusual for the Crossing. It was as if people had sensed the dark presence in town and fled. She shook her head. If only she were that smart.

After Rory returned from Myrtle's cabin with the guns, a .45 caliber Colt semi-automatic pistol and a Smith & Wesson .38 Special revolver, they worked out a plan. Myrtle and Jimmy would watch the store; Rory insisted they keep things as routine as possible, so if they were wrong, they wouldn't look like fools for closing the store unexpectedly.

Anna still felt the burning in her cheeks after a heated argument with Rory. She wanted to go with him to Ed's cabin, sure that if he did encounter any Nephilim, if that's what it was, he would need help in subduing them. And if something happened to him she wouldn't let her mind say if he got killed she would need to tell the others. Myrtle jumped when Anna blurted that out. Anna hadn't meant anything bad by it, she wasn't even certain if she believed it. But the others did, and the reality was sinking in for them. It was going to be dangerous. Possibly deadly. For her, too, Anna thought, if any of this was real. Just thinking of that made her insides recoil, but she was positive she had to go along. Rory was just as adamant that she stay behind, in case Ed or any of the others showed up at the store. Ultimately she won.

In the back room she heard Myrtle talking to Rory in hushed tones. Anna looked at her dad, sitting in a chair, resting. Seeing his wan face, she worried that he wouldn't make it through another day. She then wondered with more than a little irony if the rest of them would either.

She turned and surveyed the store. The walls closed in on her, and the ceiling seemed so near she could touch it. She drew in a deep breath and let it out, but it didn't help. She had to get out.

She tiptoed to the front door, opened it and eased through, then quietly stepped onto the porch. Stifling heat clutched at her. The weatherman on the morning news had said they were going for a record heat for the third day in a row, and that the mountains around Taylor Crossing were hotter and drier than Denver. She didn't doubt that at all. She took in the smells of the pine and the clear air. It was hard to believe that something out there could want to hunt them down.

"You're the one "

At the sound of the voice, Anna leaped backwards and b.u.mped into the door.

"What?"