Push stayed quiet, but I could feel him watching me.Not in the same unsettling way I’d felt by the lake yesterday.Push’s attention was different.Heavy, yes, but not threatening.More like he was bracing for me to trip over a root, discover another body, or sprint into traffic.
Given my track record, fair.
We reached the edge of the haunted house area, and I slowed automatically.
In daylight, it was both less scary and somehow more unsettling.
The haunted house itself sat dark and quiet, a massive crooked-looking structure with peeling paint, boarded windows, fake rust, and signs that promised terrible things inside.Without lights flashing and screams pouring from it, the whole thing looked like a stage after the actors had gone home.
Fake blood stained some of the boards near the entrance.
A rubber hand stuck out from beneath a barrel.
A plastic skeleton hung crookedly near the ticket booth; one leg turned backward like even fake death had given up on proper posture.
“This place is ridiculous,” I said.
Piney looked proud.“Thank you.”
“That wasn’t a compliment.”
“Still taking it as one.”
Push nodded toward the front entrance.“Main line starts there.People come through the ticket booth, loop around the side, and enter there.”
I studied the layout carefully.
The footage had made this area look tighter, more crowded.In person, there was more space between the buildings than I expected.Enough room for someone to move along the edges without drawing much attention if everyone else was focused on the actors and props.
I walked slowly, scanning.Push and Piney stayed with me.I stopped near one of the food stalls and turned in a circle.“Camera there?”
Push pointed above the ticket booth.“One.”
I glanced up and spotted it.“And there?”
“Another on the corner of the gift shop.”
I looked toward the trees behind the building.“Blind spot?”
Piney rocked back on his heels.“Some.We added more cameras after the first body, but there are still spots.”
“There are always spots,” I murmured.
Push’s eyes sharpened.“That what you’re looking for?”
“Partly.”
I moved toward the side path I’d seen on footage dozens of times.“The hoodie guy came through here in two clips.”
Push followed.“Yeah.”
“Was this open to tourists?”
“Staff and actors mostly.Tourists can end up here if they’re lost or drunk or stupid.”
Piney scratched his beard.“So, tourists.”
“Basically,” Push said.
