Mr. 8

Chapter 34: The Writing on the Wall

Denton hadn't written on walls since he was a small child. There was something liberating about it, although it didn't relieve any of his tension. His fingers cramped around the pink highlighter, which he gripped too tightly, as he made the two perfect circles.

He took a couple of steps back and admired his handy work. The neon pink glowed on the clean white wall. There would be no problem for anyone to see it from across the room.

The eight was flawless, unlike so many of the examples he'd seen over the past few weeks. Its curves flowed together in a perfect, endless design. They called the pattern lemniscate in geometry, and there were formulas to explain it. But beyond math, there was something poetic in its form. A snake swallowing its tail—a knot without beginning or end—time forever bending back into itself.

Denton took great pleasure drawing an angry slash through it. He rubbed the marker back and forth until the felt tip began to flake apart.

Satisfied, he let the marker drop to the floor, not bothering to put the cap back on or close the door on his way out.

That should get his attention, he thought.

When Stephen Kaling returned home he would see it from the doorway. Both Denton's eight and his message. Besides, the number were the words: "This ends now. I'm coming for you. All of you."

Denton had been rather relieved when he found no one at home at Kaling's. He wasn't entirely sure what he would have done if he had been home. He would have been even more at a loss if he encountered that madman Radnor when he knocked. But no one had answered. And it only took one well-placed kick between the door handle and the jamb to get inside.

He had planned just to leave a regular note, but while searching the desk for a pen and a piece of paper, he found the highlighter and a perverse idea came over him. A giddy feeling began to swell through his body at the thought of it; it was so fitting that his declaration of war be scrawled on the wall.

Back outside, the sun was a fiery orange disk, low in the sky, spreading a blush across the few small puffs that lurked on the horizon. It was almost 4:00. After the day he had—after the week he had—he should have been exhausted. Instead, he was feeling exhilarated. All the hard work he had done that afternoon didn't seem to bother him at all.

Perhaps this is a side-effect of the infection. Look at Radnor, he's indestructible. Perhaps I'm getting stronger.

The headache that his glasses had given him was gone too. For days he'd suffered from it and without even noticing he was free of it. Is my vision improving too? he wondered. Or is it just the painkillers helping?

As he got into the car, Denton went through a mental list. Everything was ready, now it was just a matter of gathering everyone together. Hopefully, Kaling would discover the message soon and come after him. The next stop was to see the Moores.

Ed and Maureen Moore were the first two names on the list without a line through them. The White Pages only listed the surname once, with the initial, "E." Denton was betting they would both be at the same address. He picked them for his first visit since it seemed the most economical use of his time.

Might as well kill two birds with one stone.

The house was in the newer section of town near the Elmwood Mall, which meant they were almost certainly locals. But other than that, Denton had no idea what to expect.

He took up the paper cup from the console and drained it of the last dregs of vanilla milkshake until the straw made an obnoxious sound against the bottom. He tossed it into the bag on the floor with the empty wrappers from the burger and fries.