Danny held the little girl in his arms and made sure she didn't see what was happening.

There were a lot of the black birds and they were hungry. By the time they were finished there was little to look at except for the ruined clothes Soulis had been wearing.

"Well. That was disgusting." Danny's voice was weak.

"Yeah."

"Red Lady?"

"What the fuck do you think?"

"Red Lady."

"Let's get out of here."

They left, not a one of them having any desire to stay for another moment.

Chapter 24.

I.

The sun rose at the usual time, but it rose on a very different town than the one it had set on the night before.

Bodies littered the streets and lay scattered through several buildings as well. When they could finally get there, the state patrol vehicles rolled into Black Stone Bay and began cataloguing the damage.

The bodies of three priests were found at the Sacred Hearts Cathedral. They were found badly beaten, with their throats torn open. Someone had taken the time to write "Forgive them, Lord, they were only human" on the walls in the blood of the three men. Similar epitaphs were found in every single house of God in the town.

While the crimes were added to the list of damages inflicted, the details of the bloody notes were not made public. The matter of finding replacements for the priests, rabbis, ministers, and administrators of the various religious establishments was handled quietly and carefully. There might have been more scandal added to the issue, but with everything else that occurred that particular Halloween night and a few carefully worded comments from higher ups in the churches, the matter was left alone.

Over half of the police force was dead or missing. All four detectives were still alive, though two of them had been holed up in a bank vault overnight. They were found when the bank opened in the morning, both of them disheveled and very, very angry. Though they were vague about details, it seemed that an informant had gotten the drop on them. Sadly for him, he didn't realize that there was proper circulation in the vault and that, in fact, being locked inside would not cause suffocation. He was arrested as he was packing his bags for an extended vacation.

Jayce Thornton was returned to her parents just before sunrise. They had actually been expecting her to spend the night with one of her friends, and were shocked to hear that she had been lost in the woods. It would be four years before she was given permission to sleep over anywhere again. It would be two years before she could go to sleep with the lights off in her bedroom.

The Silver Dollar Diner was in ruins. Something very bad occurred inside the building and the line cook was found cooking on the grill. Sally Harmon, who was a staple at the place, was never found.

Seven Halloween parties on the campuses of Winslow Harper and Sacred Dominion ended in disaster. The details remained blurry, but most everyone agreed in their descriptions of people dressed in black who came in and attacked at random and with unexpected violence. With all of the confusion, it was difficult to establish just how many people were killed. There were more people reported missing than actually murdered. It's hard to prove murder when there is no body. Several corpses were found, but most of the students who disappeared were listed simply as missing. Detectives Boyd and Holdstedter were not amused.

II.

"So we get to look like assholes, and those two get to come out of this with a better track record?" Danny was whining.

"Yeah, but on the bright side, we always look like assholes."

"Oh, yeah. Never mind then."

They were standing on the Cliff Walk, looking down at the waters where they crashed against the jagged rocks. They'd been there for over three hours. A good portion of that time they were supervising the divers who had to pull Kelli Entwhistle's remains from the spot. She'd been found by a jogger early on. Her body was stuck between two rocks and her arm pointed toward Soulis's place like an accusation.

Danny had looked down at the remains and shaken his head. "Sometimes," he said, "I hate being right."

He had been right, too. Most of her had been pulped into jelly by the waves. Boyd didn't respond; he was too busy looking at the way her arm moved in the current. There was something there. He just couldn't figure it out.

He caught it when the tide changed. The undertow was all wrong. When he thought about how the girl's hand had moved, he looked to the spot and finally understood that there was something there, a cave or a well or something.

He and Danny spent a long time looking at it.

A big enough cave could hide a lot of bodies.

It could hide a lot of bodies that weren't as dead as maybe they should be. It took a little work, and he had to pull some favors, but after Boyd explained it, Danny got a few things they would need.

III.

Maggie got the letter from Jason Soulis in the mail the next day. It had been sent overnight express.

She opened it while Ben was sleeping and read it carefully.

It read: Dear Maggie, It was a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I suspect you remain confused by what has happened to you, and I can most certainly understand that. Know this: You will endure.

If all goes as I have planned it, you will be reading this after I have left Black Stone Bay. I have to ask a favor of you. Please watch over my house. It is empty of all that was mine, and for the present time I have no need of it. I would consider it a kindness if you could move in and make yourself at home. You will find all of the appropriate paperwork has been filed and that you can move in at your convenience.

I will leave you with the following thoughts: First, know that there was a reason for everything I did. We may well discuss it some day. Second, keep your secret well. I have met the boy you trust and he should do well for you, but do not spread the secrets of your condition to others. Believe me, they will not understand.

May your life be less complex than it has been and may your nights and days be peaceful.

Until we meet again,

Jason Soulis

She folded the letter up and placed it back into its envelope. The thick sheaf of papers she also found inside included a lifetime lease for the property and the understanding that the structure could not be altered or sold.

Maggie and Ben moved in a few months later, after their leases at the apartment complex expired.

IV.

"Hello?" The voice that answered was familiar and comforting.

"Mom?"

"Angie! Oh my God! Are you okay, honey? Your father and I have been worried sick, just sick! We kept calling, but no one answered, and when we talked to the police, they told us about poor Brian."

"I'm okay, Mom. But I have to get away from here; there are too many memories . . ."

"Oh, honey, of course there are. You could come home if you wanted. You could stay with us."

"Would it really be okay if I did, Mom?"

"Oh, honey, of course it would be. We haven't seen you in almost a year."

"I have a few things to take care of, but I can be there in a couple of days."

"We can't wait to see you, honey. Oh, thank God you're all right."

She flinched a bit. Even the mention of God seemed to cause discomfort, but she was almost certain she could endure. There were things she didn't understand about what she had become, but she was learning.

"I love you, Mom. I can't wait to see you again."

"Honey, all you ever have to do is come on by. The door will always be open for you."

"I'll see you soon and I have a surprise for you."

"Really? Is it a good surprise?"

"I think you'll like it."

They said their good-byes and Angie Freemont carefully packed her bags.

She felt a twinge and the baby kicked. He was feeling stronger too, recovering from all that had been done to the both of them. She ran her hand over her swollen belly and smiled, even as the first hunger pangs hit.

She was always hungry. How could she be anything else? She was eating for two.

V.

The bodies were gathered through the course of the day. They were more than anyone wanted to consider, and a surprising number of them seemed to be at least a week old. Though it took time, eventually they were identified.

Witnesses claimed that several of the corpses gathered had been alive and well until the sun hit them. No one really believed the accounts. The bodies that had most of those claims had obviously been dead for several hours or days.

VI.

Boyd smoked his cigar and watched Danny as he maneuvered the radio-controlled boat.

"Fuck's sake, Danny! It's a big goddamn hole in the side of a cliff! How hard can it be?"

"About as hard as it is for you to get into Whalen's pants."

"What? Now you're changing your mind about me and Whalen?"

"Hardly. I think you could get in her pants if you really wanted to."

"She's a married woman, Danny Boy."

"So? She wants you!"

"So maybe if she was single, okay?"

"Being a dumbass about it."

"You go around banging married women?"

That shut him up.

"So get the fucken thing in there already!"

"Relax, Richie. The best things take time." He couldn't decide if Danny was talking about Whalen or the damned boat, so he kept his mouth shut.

Finally the waves pulled back in just the right way and the water from the cave's entrance spilled out. As the next wave came in, the boat was sucked into the underwater entrance.

"The SS Kelli has breached the defenses."

"Good."

"You wanna do the honors, Richie?"

"Yeah, if you don't mind."

"Knock yourself out."

Boyd picked up the detonator and waited for one full minute as Danny kept urging the small motor further along. He waited until they could no longer hear the whining toy engine's noises.

"Come on, Richie. Damn, I need coffee!"

"Fuck you and your coffee. It was my idea." He pressed the detonator and the four sticks of dynamite let out a dull thump that was hidden by the waters.

They couldn't see much at first, but after watching for a while they saw that the undertow wasn't doing as many weird things anymore. There wasn't a delay or a sudden gulping of the ocean.

"Did that close it off?"

"I guess we'll know tonight, Danny Boy."

"Yeah. I guess we will.

"Ready to go?"

"Yeah. I'm bored, Richie."

"Ain't you always."