It was a fun catch up, to see Blackwater in the night, to feel a remnant of his old self lurking in the shadows of his being, but he’d still have preferred his dove’s company.
“Jem’s not how I remember,” he said thoughtfully.
“You mean he’s less of an asshole.”
“That’s right.”
She grinned. “He’s still a shit, don’t worry.”
“Yeah…” His voice trailed off for a moment before adding, “He seems a little off.”
“A little haunted, you mean.”
“Mmm.”
“Jem keeps running from what hurts,” she explained softly. “He’s got a few skeletons in the closet.”
“Know of any?”
“He refuses to say.” She sounded sad. “I’ve tried to be there for him, I’ve tried to get him to open up about it but…he’s tough. You boys are tough to crack, you know that?”
He nodded slowly, thinking of the way Jem behaved tonight. “Yeah, well…He took me down Hawthorne street.”
Charlotte pulled back from his lips to look him square in the eye, confused. “Why did he take you there?”
“To show me around. Hawthorne street had a bunch of family businesses not so long ago. It’s overrun by drug addicts now. It looked desperate.”
She frowned. “Not sure why Jem was so motivated to show you that.”
“He was trying to make a point.”
“Concerning what?”
“Locke.”
Charlotte looked away, seeming bothered. “Don’t let whatever feud’s going on between Jem and Locke into your life. Don’t let it influence the way you view either of them.”
Curious now, and unable to resist, he wondered, “Were you around for the Henry Tiller trial?”
Her face blanched. “Yeah…” she said quietly.
He studied her closely. “He was a good man, pup. Why would he deal drugs?”
“I don’t know.”
But she did know, didn’t she?
Without wanting to, Thames recalled what his mother said the first morning he was here.
“I had no idea he would come here, and it was late when he did,” Charlotte responded coolly. “I was overwhelmed. I didn’t think to call you at three in the morning.”
“Is that really why?” Megan sounded uncertain. “Or is it because you’re afraid I’d tell him about you and Locke and what I walked in on that day?”
Secrets.
So many little mysteries in every corner of this town.
And Charlotte was caught up in some of it, Thames was certain.
Once again, it was tethered to Locke somehow, and Thames was on the cusp of some grand realization.
After a tense few minutes, she feigned a yawn and turned her back to him. Soon after, she fell asleep.
THE HOLE
The second the steel doors slammed over Max, he stumbled up the steps, arms high above his head. He felt the cool steel and began pounding at the doors, screaming for help.
He heard shuffling sounds above him. Something brushed against the door on the other side of him. He pounded his fists against the steel, hyperventilating now as the darkness stretched, as his heavy breaths filled the air around him.
He nearly blacked out from fear.
“Please,” he screamed. “Please, please, open the door! Please, please…”
Please.
Please.
Please.
He repeated himself, screaming, crying, pounding, until his voice cracked, and his hands bruised.
Why wasn’t anyone answering him?
“Conor,” he whimpered because Conor was always there to protect him. “Conor!”
Was this some sick joke?
Well, he didn’t want to play anymore. In fact, he would never play this game again, and he would never play it with the boys, and he would never venture so far out of town in this horribly haunted place.
“Conor!” he cried, pounding and pounding at the door. “Please, open up! Please, I’m scared, Conor. I’m scared!”
He was so scared, he might faint.
He couldn’t see around him.
He wasn’t used to this blackness. He’d never been submerged in it before. He’d always had a light nearby, however faint it was, it was always there to calm him down.
His stomach twisted and his heart sped faster as his mind worked against him. It felt like the dark might claim him. It might wrap its arms around his body, claw his flesh and laugh in his ear, and whisper in a chilling voice, “Scaredy cat Max, such a baby.”
It felt so real, so palpable – the monster in the room – that Max sensed its presence behind him and he panicked. He screamed louder, at the top of his lungs, crying out as he pounded and pounded.
Then arms did wrap around him, pulling him down the steps and into the black hole.
Chapter Seventeen
Charlotte
I played with my keys outside the school, standing with all the other parents waiting for their kids to come out. I hated showing up so early. I hated exchanging tight smiles and awkward