in Elsberry, MO—I initially shared it myself. However, after interviewing dozens of people and observing the aftermath myself, I want to assure you that the reports were neither imagined nor exaggerated. Witnesses did indeed observe a figure fitting the description of the man Merlin saw at the site of the massacre of the first Army of Flickering; he was followed by a troop of what appeared to be reanimated corpses. Whether there was actually anything supernatural about the supposed corpses remains to be seen, but the descriptions are consistent, specific, and reliable.
We are working to repair the town hall, which was obliterated, and we have offered modest reparations to the families of the dead to cover funeral costs. But what we would rather give them is an explanation of how their loved ones died and who killed them. They have begun calling him “the Resurrectionist.” Let us hope he can be apprehended before the nickname catches on.
Two days ago, we received a report that there had been a disturbance at Roe’s Hill Cemetery on the North Side of Chicago. The reports said that huge amounts of earth had been displaced in an apparently magical fashion, exposing countless graves to the elements. The case had been tied up in local (nonmagical) law enforcement for a few months before they realized magic had been involved and referred it to us. We sent an officer to investigate the incident. What we discovered is that dozens of graves had been dug up, their coffins opened, and the bodies therein stolen. Upon further investigation, it seems that all of the aforementioned bodies belonged to soldiers of the first Army of Flickering.
I cannot help but make a connection between the Resurrectionist’s last attack in Peoria, Illinois—where he was again seen with a small army of what was described as reanimated corpses (to be specific: skin rotted, bones exposed, fingernails clawlike, some holding their own severed limbs)—and this incident. The coffins were unearthed at approximately the same time as the Resurrectionist’s first attack. I submit that perhaps the Resurrectionist has enacted some sick magical working that we do not presently comprehend—he has successfully raised an army from the dead.
I trust you will find this as disturbing as I do. Pardon my language, but what kind of twisted son of a bitch massacres an army and then raises them from the dead to take down their former leader?
I wish I had better news.
Sincerely,
Captain Kyros Stasiak
Cordus Protective Forces
TOP SECRET
24
THE FIRST TIME she had ever seen Matt was at the Farmhouse, which is what they called the building where they had trained to defeat the Dark One. He had been holding on to the chain of the porch swing, gangly, his hair in short dreadlocks. He had told her she had a weird name and asked her how she got it. When she told him she and her brother were named after characters in the movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, he had laughed, and his smile had been so wide that she liked him right away.
There was something about Matt standing in the hallway holding the door frame that reminded her of the teenager she had known. But he had stopped smiling that way a long time ago. Long before they started dating.
He certainly wasn’t smiling now.
“Nice note,” he said, holding up the piece of paper Sloane had slipped under his door before they left.
Matt—
We’re going to meet Alternate Bert. Just have to know. Taking chaperones, so don’t worry.
—Slo and Essy
He crumpled it up and threw it at her feet. It bounced up against her shins and settled near the wall.
“Well, I actually told you where I was going this time,” Sloane said coolly.
“That isn’t the issue,” Matt said. “We’re supposed to be a team, Sloane.”
“You don’t want a team,” Sloane said. “You want obedience.”
Matt flinched like she had hit him and stepped back. She felt a twinge of regret. But she was tired of bracing herself every time she wanted to do something, say something, go somewhere. And not just here in Genetrix, but anywhere. He was a kind man, but his disapproval was paternalistic, at best, and, at worst, oppressive.
“Wow, hey, none of this,” Esther said before Matt could respond. She put herself between them, holding one hand out to Sloane and the other out to Matt. “It’s not like Sloane dragged me along, Matt. I