Logan didn’t move. “Then what?”
“I don’t know.” Opal glanced at the silent, glowering cave. “But I don’t want to sit here thinking it over.”
“Me neither.” Emma started up the path, Tyler and Logan on her heels. Opal was about to follow when she heard a huge splash below the ledge. Wood cracked and splintered.
“The boat,” Nico hissed. “Something’s destroying it!”
“Go!” Opal whispered. “Now!”
The group raced to the top, not daring to look back. Opalgrabbed her bike and switched on its headlight. Could they out-pedal whatever might be chasing them? She led out, pumping her feet furiously. Before she’d gone twenty yards, Opal spotted deep scores in the grass.
Torn earth. Mangled bushes. Snapped branches. Opal rode along a trail of destruction aimed directly at Timbers.
She thought of the footprints in the mud.
Something left the island ahead of us.
Where was it now?
Opal’s tires slid out. She crashed sideways, her elbow and knee taking the brunt of the fall. Opal gritted her teeth as the others skidded to a stop. Emma dismounted and crouched beside her. “Are you all right?”
“I think so.” Opal felt dazed and sharpened at the same time. Her body throbbed, and she was wet from whatever she’d landed on.
Nico, Logan, and Tyler walked their bikes closer.
“Whatisthat stuff?” Logan said.
“Huh?” Opal clicked on her phone light.
A silver ooze coated the ground. Opal was covered in it.
“Careful.” Opal watched as blood from her knee mixed with the silvery muck. “No one touch me until we know what we’re dealing with.”
“But you’re hurt.” Emma’s fingers flexed uselessly. “That slime is all over you.”
Opal stumbled to her feet. “I’m okay. I can ride.” She feltblood trickle down her elbow. She knew it was blood because it felt nice and warm. Was it weird that her blood felt nice?Did I hit my head?
“I’ll take the lead,” Nico said. The others surrounded Opal, letting her ride in the middle. Her bike creaked and groaned. She dripped bloody ooze onto the grass.
“Almost there,” Logan called from behind her.
“You got this,” Tyler added.
They topped the last hill overlooking Main Street. Opal glanced left at Overlook Row. She could go home, curl up in bed, and pretend none of this ever happened.
But beneath the streetlights downtown, Opal saw strange shapes gathering.
One growled, dropping to all fours.
Another hissed darkly, a sibilant, seeking sound.
Opal smelled something decayed. Her skin tingled with static electricity.
The largest shadow reached up a huge, hairy arm. Teeth flashed yellow-white in the moonlight as it gripped a radish festival banner and tore it down, the fabric crumpling like an autumn leaf.
Opal accepted the awful truth.
Figments had invaded Timbers.
