The Lost Causes of Bleak Creek(87)

Seconds later, the water got so bright it almost hurt Rex’s eyes, with bubbles so large and violent, they were actually creating waves. He tried to swim forward, but the entire spring had become a churning, roiling cauldron.

And that wasn’t all.

Rex felt the spirit.

It was watching him, as it had that first time.

Rex tried to ignore it, to focus on getting to Alicia, but that became impossible as he felt the dark presence completely envelop him.

He began thrashing his limbs in the water, as if he could somehow fling it off, like it was a bee.

His efforts were unsuccessful.

How could he have been so stupid? Whatever this “One Below” was, he and Ben had willingly walked into its lair. Once it took them, not only would they not save Alicia, but they would also need someone to come save them.

Rex gave a few last, desperate flails.

It worked.

The spirit was gone.

He pushed through the water, only to feel it return moments later, surrounding him once again.

This time, though, Rex had a minor revelation: the spirit was in distress. Maybe the unusual amount of blood is overwhelming it.

Whatever the cause, the presence around him seemed fragmented somehow, there one moment and gone the next. He felt the water squeezing his face, desperately pushing on his regulator and mask, then relenting.

It was almost as if the spirit couldn’t find a way in.

Screw you, One Below, Rex thought, realizing it no longer had enough of a hold to keep him from moving. I’m saving my best friend, whether you like it or not.

He battled forward through the water—finally, the fins were helpful—until he caught sight of Ben next to the spring wall, where Alicia’s head was sticking out just as it had on the video.

They could actually do this.

He expected Ben to immediately start digging her out, but instead he was pointing emphatically past her.

Holy shit.

Leif’s head was sticking out of the wall too.

Rex felt a billion things at once, all of which he pushed aside in order to begin using the back of his hammer to hack away at the rocky mud wall holding in Leif, as Ben did the same for Alicia.

The rocks were loose enough to dislodge, but most of Leif’s body was covered.

This might take a while.



* * *



—

THOUGH JANINE WAS considerably caught off-guard by the turn of events their night had taken, she wasn’t at all surprised to learn that Mary Hattaway was part of the cult.

“Was my message on your grandmother’s car not clear enough?” Mary said brightly into Janine’s ear, gripping her right arm so she couldn’t go anywhere.

“Oh, it was perfectly clear,” Janine said. “I just don’t take orders from human sludge.”

Mary reached toward Janine’s left arm—the one Travis was holding with a firm but gentle pressure—and yanked the camera out of her hand.

“Give that back,” Janine said.

“I don’t think so.” Mary looked into the lens as if she was testing it out. “Might give it to my Tammy—she’ll think it’s a riot. Or maybe…” Mary let the camera slide out of her hand and clunk onto the dirt. “Oopsy.”

Janine wanted to scream, but she didn’t want Mary to see how much anger she was inspiring.

“Oh, I’m sorry about that, dear.” But instead of bending down to pick it up, Mary stomped on the camera three times with her white Nike running shoe.

“No!” Janine said, feeling like she’d lost a limb.

The VHS cassette fell out, raw tape spilling on the ground in chaotic coils.

“Oh, come on, Mary. You didn’t have to do that,” Travis said. “That camera wasn’t hurtin’ nobody.”

“Shut up, Travis!” Mary snapped.

“You are a terrible fucking person,” Donna said, restrained by two other men next to Janine.

“Your mother would be ashamed to hear you talk like that,” Mary said.

“My mother thinks you’re a bitch.”

Mary lost her fake smile.

Whitewood, meanwhile, seemed euphoric. “We have been blessed tonight!” he proclaimed. “Those boys offered themselves to the purifying waters without us having to lift a finger. If the One Below accepts either of them, the seventh Lost Cause will have been delivered and the Prophecy will be fulfilled!”

The cult members shouted in celebration, several of them beginning to cry. This was even more screwed up than Janine could’ve guessed.

“Thank you, Master!” one of the men holding Donna shouted, causing her to turn her head in recognition.

“Dr. Bob?”

“Hi, Donna,” Dr. Bob said, pulling off his hood to reveal his glistening bald head and round, frameless glasses. He had the same caring face he’d had during each of Donna’s appointments over the course of her lifetime. “I know it’s hard to understand, darlin’. But this spring is gonna save our town.”

“You’re right, I don’t understand,” Donna said, remembering the darkness she’d encountered under that water. Her muscles tensed under Dr. Bob’s grip. “I don’t understand why my dad had to die.”

“Oh, Donna,” Dr. Bob said, reminding her of his response years ago when she’d gotten up the nerve to tell him that she thought she was depressed. “That was just a car accident. And I’m still truly sorry for your loss, sweetheart.”