“So what is going on?”
Mr. Allen drew in a tense breath as he filled his pipe with tobacco. At his feet, Argos glanced up at him with doleful eyes and hunkered closer to his legs. He smoothed a hand over the top of the dog’s wide head as he slowly replied, “I feel like you all are going to think I’ve lost my mind when I tell you. The first investigators certainly thought I had. If they don’t see things like this at the New Jersey Branch of the Paranormal Society, somehow, I doubt you see things like this in Manhattan.”
“Oh, we’ve seen our share of strange things.”
“But Aldorhaven is stranger than most. See, the problem is the dead aren’t staying dead.”
Oliver looked up from his notes to search the other man’s featuresfor any signs of joking, but he was engrossed in lighting his pipe. “When you saythe dead aren’t staying dead, do you mean that people are seeing ghosts, or do you mean the dead are actually coming out of their graves?”
“The second one.”
“Like actual corpses leaving their graves and going for a walk?”
“Yep.”
“And how long has this been happening?”
“About five years.”
The point snapped off Oliver’s pencil and rolled into his lap. “Five years! Five years you’ve had dead people popping out of their graves, and you only thought to write now?”
He knew his voice was rising an octave above where it should be, but he couldn’t help it. The whole thing was absurd.Fiveyears?!Either these people were having them on or Aldorhaven’s population had become far too desensitized to queerness. If the dead walking didn’t scare them, what did they live with normally? As Oliver dug in his jacket pocket for his pen, Felipe flashed him a pointed look of warning.
Clearing his throat, Felipe asked Mr. Allen far more gently, “What changed that made you concerned about the dead?”
“Well, for one, they started attacking people. At first, we would find them out of their graves or trying to escape their mausoleums. We would just put them back when we could and those we couldn’t, we buried beside the church. Then, all would be quiet for a time. We didn’t know if there were vandals or pranksters messing with them. You see, no one saw it happen because it only happened at night. We just found them in the morning wherever they ran out of steam. Until recently, it didn’t happen often, and they never got very far. Someone years ago once told me about those Medieval danse macabres, and I assumed it was something like that. Eerie but manageable.
“Then, things changed. I don’t know what, but they’re able to get around far easier and faster. They’ve now made it past the cemetery gates and gone after people. At first, we thought it might have been a freak accident or that the person who was attacked summoned the deadsomehow, but then, it happened again and again. Those people swore up and down that they had done nothing to provoke an attack. After the second attack, there was talk of burning everyone in the cemetery to keep them from rising, but once that idea was thrown out, people started downplaying it.Someonegot it into the others’ heads that they’re overreacting, and the dead just attack people sometimes. I lived outside of Aldorhaven for part of my life. This does not just happen, and it didn’t happen here when I was a child either. Something is going on. Something changed. That’s why I wrote to the Paranormal Society because no one here will do anything about it.”
Oliver’s pulse pounded in his ears as he jotted down everything Mr. Allen said. This was far worse than he had expected. Part of him still hoped maybe Mr. Allen was exaggerating and it might still be someone playing a prank or a vampire panic, but somehow, he doubted it. It all felt too complicated for that. Oliver tapped his pen against the paper. He had never heard of a case where the dead somehow left their graves without a necromancer’s help. That had to be it: a rogue necromancer was terrorizing the town. Quickly rereading his notes, Oliver silently sighed. This sort of thing was why his powers were stigmatized. It wasn’t funny to play on people’s fears, and it wasn’t right to manipulate the dead like that. Once he found out who it was, he and Felipe would put an end to it.
“You said this started about five years ago. Did anything happen then or did anyone new come to town?” Felipe asked.
Mr. Allen puffed on his pipe thoughtfully and shook his head. “No, no one new has moved to town as far as I know, and I’ve been back for twelve years now. People used to come here looking for work, but not anymore, even though we still have the ironworks and a mill. When I came back, I thought people weren’t staying because of the woods and such, so I converted my family’s home into an inn to let visitors acclimate since we’re at the edge of town. I thought if the industrial folks and their families stayed long enough, they’d get used to it.
“But Aldorhaven has changed for the worst since I left, andnothing seems to fix it. It used to be a booming town. It attracted magical people like us, but no one uses their gifts anymore. They have the mill and ironworks, so why bother? Then, the town stopped bringing people in and started refusing to let the ones already here go. People don’t leave town for more than a day or two, just enough to sell and buy what they have to before they return, but it wasn’t always like that. That only happened to a few people whose roots went too deep, and now, it’s everybody. It also seems to repel people who are trying to come in, which would explain some things. The first pair of investigators said it took them multiple tries to find the turn into town.”
Oliver frowned. He had felt the jolt when they crossed the magical threshold in his sinuses, but they had had no issue finding the turn.
“But you left?” Gwen said softly.
“Years and years ago, and it was difficult to leave then. As you can see, I’m back and haven’t left since, despite this walking dead nonsense. I’m as stuck as the rest of them.”
Felipe nodded thoughtfully. “Mr. Allen, do you think you could show us around town? We would like to start interviewing people soon and take a look at the bodies of those who came back before it gets dark.”
“Don’t expect cooperation, inspector. You’re not from here, and as far as they’re concerned, the dead coming back to life is somehow proof of Aldorhaven’s industriousness.Even our dead never sleep,” Mr. Allen parroted with a roll of his eyes as he pushed to his feet. “But, yes, I’ll show you all around. Let’s go to the cemetery first. It’s the closest, and it will be better if you can start your investigation before anyone realizes you’re in town and interferes. I’m sure Luther Stills will have something to say about it.”
Before Mr. Allen could make it to the door, Felipe asked, “One last thing, do you have any idea what happened to the first pair of investigators?”
The innkeeper froze, his hand tightening on the head of his cane. When he turned back to them, he looked far older than he probably was. “Yes and no. After I told them what I knew about the dead, theywent off on their own to investigate. I should have insisted I go with them, but they gave me the brush-off when I tried to tell them what had happened, and I was annoyed. When they didn’t come back for dinner that night, I assumed they ate at the Fool’s Fire since that’s where most of the single men in town eat. After I got up in the morning, I realized they still hadn’t returned, so I went looking for them. Mrs. Owens, who runs the general store, said she last saw them going into the woods around two o’clock. I told them not to go into the Dysterwood under any circumstances, but they didn’t listen. I kept looking and asking after them, but I never saw them again.”
“Did anyone go into the woods to look for them?” Oliver asked.
“Son, there’s only one family that can go in those woods, and they aren’t helping anyone but themselves. Once something goes into the Dysterwood, it belongs to the Lady, and there’s no getting it back,” Mr. Allen replied before turning and leaving the sitting room with Argos on his heels.
***
Oliver hugged his coat closer against the fall chill as he followed Felipe, Gwen, and Mr. Allen up the hill to the cemetery. His mind turned over every ominous thing Mr. Allen had told them since they arrived. The dead rising, the town trapping people, the unnamed dangers lurking in the woods, and god knows what else. He wanted to ask him about everything, but the man had disappeared to suit up for their trek into town and hadn’t volunteered anything since.
