Page 110 of 1001 Dark Nights: Bundle Forty-Two

“I guess not.”

“Come to think of it, we don’t really know anything abouther.”

“We know one thing,” Swopes said. “We know she’s a damnedgood doctor, and we know she doesn’t ask questions about our... extracurricularactivities.”

“That’s two things. And I agree. But something has herspooked. And if I didn’t know better, I’d say we might be short a medic. Idon’t think she plans to come back.”

Chapter Four

I may look fine, but deep down

I don’t remember any of my passwords.

—Meme

Believe nothing. What did that even mean?What was Benji trying to tell her?

Sia had forgotten how long it took to get to Ruidoso fromSanta Fe. She managed to shave half an hour off the trip by incorporating aloose interpretation of the posted speed limits, but she was still on the vergeof a complete mental breakdown by the time she hit the Capitan Pass. Only a fewmore miles, and she’d be at Benji’s house. Or his human parents’ house, rather.But even being this close to him, she couldn’t hear him. Not that proximitymattered. As with every plane they’d ever been on, they’d always been able tohear each other, no matter the distance. But it seemed even quieter now.Darker. Colder.

The Capitan Pass was full of sharp curves and steepdrop-offs. She had no choice but to slow down. She checked her rearview for theten-thousandth time and caught a glimpse of headlights. That wasn’t abnormal.Not in the least. It was the fact that a similar set had appeared anddisappeared throughout her entire trip. Almost as though the person behind herwas purposely slowing down and then speeding back up to check on herwhereabouts.

But why would they? She rolled her eyes and gripped thesteering wheel tighter, growing more paranoid by the second. No one wasfollowing her. If Kursch had found his way onto this plane and had somehowlocated the others, he would not be driving a vehicle and following her at asafe distance. No. If Kursch had found them, they would all be dead. Or worse,taken back to the void.

Her stomach clenched hard at the thought. She’d preferdeath. For all she knew, her friends actually had beentaken back. Her stomach hurt just thinking about it. It was a very unwelcomeside effect of—for all intents and purposes—being human. Even with the vastknowledge of the woman she’d inhabited, it had taken Sia a long time to adjustto life within a framework of flesh and bone. And physical pain from anemotional event took longer to acclimate to than she’d hoped. She’d alwaysthought the visceral reaction odd, even with the medical knowledge she’dgained.

The headlights disappeared from her rearview as she flewaround curves and up the steep grades of the mountain. She came to a series oftight turns and slowed, veering left, right, then left again.

Concentrating on the road helped her anxiety. She’d tried toget ahold of Benji at least fifty times, to no avail. The mindless monotony ofdriving was oddly comforting. At least until the headlights reappeared a momentlater, only much closer this time. The brightness in her mirror blinded her fora split second. Just long enough for her to misjudge the degree of curvaturerequired for her next turn.

She’d done the math. She was very good at it. But the lightshad thrown her, and a heartbeat before she realized what was happening, shefound her right tires hovering off the side of the mountain. She screamed andjerked the wheel, overcorrecting and almost pitching her Toyota over the side.Instead, she ended up veering into the opposite lane. Thankfully, it was themiddle of the night with nary a car in sight—except for the one on her ass.

Whoever it was slowed down and gave her some breathing roomonce she recovered, but she kept her eye on them. The turnoff to Benji’s housewas up ahead, so she put on her blinker and glared into her rearview. “Don’tyou even think about following me.”

She turned left, going higher on the mountain, but kept avigilant watch on the lights behind her. The car stayed its course, speedingpast her once she’d cleared the intersection. The tension that had been coiledbetween her shoulder blades, cinching them tighter, eased a bit.

She drew in a deep breath and searched through the darknessfor the next turn. “You’re losing it, Sia. Just stay focused.”

The near-accident was her fault.She’d been so lost in thought that she hadn’t slowed down enough. And herparanoia had convinced her that someone was following her. She had to rememberwho she was dealing with. Kursch would cut her throat and wait for her to exitthe human body so he could kill her with a grin on his face. Well, if he hada face.

A mutilated white mailbox came into view with the name Hendersonstenciled on the side. It was more faded than she remembered, and she’d justvisited Benji a few months ago. She took a right and eased up the narrow,tree-lined drive.

The Hendersons had a tiny cabin with very few amenities, butit was Mr. Henderson’s pride and joy. “Completely self-sufficient,”the rascally man would say with a laugh. Benji had found such an amazingfamily. A mom, dad, and two little sisters who thought their big brother hadhung the moon. Sia envied Benji that—the closeness he shared with his family.The dynamics. He truly embodied the role of the human he inhabited. Having all of the kid’s memories, Benji was the only one out of thelot of them—seven to be exact—who really embraced human life and welcomed itwith open arms. He fought with his sisters yet protected them with every ounceof strength he had. He disobeyed his parents, then apologizedand doubled down on his chores to make up for it. He enjoyed being human somuch, Sia was surprised that he hadn’t severed contact with the rest of themyears ago. In some ways, they were merely a reminder of the horrible past theyshared.

She stopped short and turned off her headlights, not wantingto wake anyone. What if all of this was a mistake? What if Benji was fine?Maybe someone had stolen his phone and was punking her. Wasn’t that what theycalled it?

After a quick glance at the satchel, she decided againstbringing it along. It was one thing to sneak up to a dark house in the middleof the night. It was another thing altogether to sneak up to a dark house inthe middle of the night carrying a wicked-looking iron dagger. They didn’t evenknow for certain if iron would work on Kursch, but it was the only weapon theyhad.

Praying she was overreacting, she killed the engine, grabbedher phone—mainly for the flashlight feature—and stepped out of the car. Thefamiliar scent of pine washed over her, and she took comfort in it. But beforeshe took two steps, a twig snapped nearby. She froze and slowly raised herphone, but her flashlight was hardly a match for the blackness of a forest atnight. It barely penetrated five feet into the shadowy thickness.

She waited with bated breath, listening with her whole bodyfor another sound. When none came, she ventured forth. She only stumbled once,and that was due to a pothole the size of Texas in the drive. That thingwould’ve bottomed out her poor Toyota, and it had been through enough for onenight.

The cabin seemed way more ominous at night. It sat incomplete darkness, shadows on top of shadows, which Sia found odd. Mr.Henderson had always kept a porch light on, as well as a floodlight with amotion sensor. Sia’s approach should have triggered it.

Growing warier by the second, sheignored the fact that the hand holding her phone suddenly shook uncontrollablyand crept to the side of the cabin where Benji’s room was located. She stole upto the window and shined her light inside. What she saw paralyzed her lungs andsent chills racing up her spine. Not because Benji was inside. And not becausehe wasn’t. But because there was nothing inside.

Trash and old clothes littered the floor, along with abroken chair and a dirty mattress that looked like it had served time in a drugden. Graffiti covered the walls, and the curtains that Benji’s mom had made thelast time Sia visited hung like a tattered testament to the forgottenartifacts. The room looked like it hadn’t been lived in for years, but she hadjust been here three months ago.

She reeled back and tried to take in the rest of the house.The trim Mr. Henderson had painted last summer had cracked, and large chunkshad peeled off.