Tossing him the keys, Alexia gave him a stern look. “No dents. No scratches. No guts. No blood. ”
Jeff looked hurt. “Like I would do that. ”
Samantha glanced over at Alexia’s white Jeep. It was an exact replica of Cher’s 1994 Jeep Wrangler in the movie Clueless. It was pretty cute. Samantha respected Alexia’s devotion to such a great movie. Samantha had considered herself a bit of a Cher when she was younger.
Alexia narrowed her eyes slightly. “Any scratch and I will cut you. ”
“She will. She’s vicious. Those nails. ” Benchley shuddered.
Alexia hissed like a cat and bared her sharp little nails.
“We’ll try to keep in touch, but it seems everyone is having bad cell service out there,” Jeff said as he snagged Samantha’s hand.
“We meet up here, right? After it all goes down?” Benchley asked.
“Yep. See you later. And good luck,” Jeff said solemnly, then began walking toward the Jeep, pulling Samantha behind him.
Samantha waved at the siblings. The matching somber looks on their faces reflected her own.
“We’ll see them again, right?” Samantha said softly when they were a few feet away.
Jeff glanced over his shoulder at his friends before returning his attention to her. She could see the worry in his eyes and willed him to lie to her. “I don’t know. ”
Samantha sighed, then nodded. The truth was better to deal with than lies. Holding tight to his slightly sweaty hand, she let him guide her to the Jeep.
* * *
It was late afternoon when Sergio pulled his truck over to the side of the road near the edge of the ghost town of Fenton. In the rearview mirror he could see the hotel where The Summoner had taken refuge just a few months before. The sight sent a sliver of fear through him and made him shiver. Before the truck was a thick copse of trees that shielded a dilapidated farmhouse and overgrown cemetery from the eyes of any travelers on the narrow country road. The memory of the life and death struggle he had experienced there not too long ago caused his chest to tighten.
Shooting a worried look at his grandmother, he saw that she, too, was staring over the field with a fearful but determined expression on her face. Her tiny hands gripped her big purse crammed with holy relics. Twisting her lips from side to side, the older woman appeared to be concentrating.
“Grandmama?”
“It feels wrong,” she said, obviously apprehensive.
“What do you mean?”
“The cemetery. It feels wrong. It feels. . . empty. ”
“But that’s good, right?” Sergio shifted in his seat uncomfortably.
“I don’t know,” Innocente confessed. “I can usually feel something of the dead when I’m near a graveyard. This one just feels like a void. ”
Nervously, Sergio picked his phone up off the dashboard and checked the bars again. Now he was wishing he had brought a weapon. With no coverage, he couldn’t call for help if something went wrong. At a few stops, he had tried to use the convenience store business phones, but he had been rebuffed every time. They had stopped at a little barbecue place and he had tried to bribe the owner, but had met with resistance. It was annoying when all he wanted to do was check in with Cynthia and see how the kids were doing.
The rumble of another engine drew his attention to his side mirror. The big dark truck pulling the camper stopped alongside them. Pete rolled down the window and leaned out.
“Where is it?”
“Across the field. There’s a dirt driveway, but it’s mostly overgrown. I don’t know if you can get the camper up close,” Sergio answered.
Ethan’s face was shrouded in shadow, hidden by his sunglasses and his cowboy hat. “Then we’ll park at that hotel and drive up with you. Okay?”
Sergio nodded. “Okay. ” Shifting gears, he backed up the road a little, then u-turned. Behind him, Ethan followed suit. He noticed Innocente’s deepening frown and reached over to squeeze her hand. “We’re doing the right thing. If there is the slightest possibility of bringing her back to life, we have to do it. We both know it. ”
“I know, Sergio. I thought that maybe I would feel him in the cemetery…since he died there. But it’s so…empty,” Innocente sighed, then forced a smile. “Which is a good thing, I guess. I like the idea of him burning in hell. ”
Cracking a grin and chuckling, Sergio agreed heartily. “Absolutely. That’s a great place for that bastard. ”