And it was here, at what used to be a quiet woodland plantation, that a true horror was uncovered on the sleepy coasts of Lasquette Bay.
Over the course of two days of investigation following an anonymous tip, sheriff's deputies have uncovered more than forty bodies. Many of these individuals, we're told, bear the same wounds as the victim's of Lasquette Bay's 'Burning-Eyed' killer – in reference to a local legend in this lakeside town.
A number of other individuals have also been reported among the bodies, identified by authorities as members of an occult group known to be operating in northern Michigan. While no details have been released by investigators as yet, it is understood that these occult members are thought to have been behind the killing of three students from East Lasquette University.
Evidence also points these individuals being responsible for the wildfire that swept through Lasquette's woods three days ago, preceding the abduction of more than forty citizens who were taken to the woodland plantation.
We'll bring you all the details as they come, but one thing is clear. After the deadliest spree of killings in Lasquette Bay's history, this town will never be the same again.
Luke watched the news report play out, feeling sort of numb to the drama of it all. He had to admit, Gallie and the Karkadda had done a good job giving Sheriff Nalen a trail to follow, something with just enough kernels of truth in it that it would satisfy him. It meant leaving many of their dead companions behind to sell the diversion, though. The thought made him squirm uncomfortably. It was all done to mask the involvement of him and his friends, and to keep the Karkadda secret buried.
Nobody knew what had become of Coach Gore. Part of him had expected her to rush off to Sheriff Nalen and try to turn them all in after what they'd done to her, but maybe her confrontation with Kasper had been enough to frighten her off the face of the Earth. Either that, or fear of what DeVergne would have done to her if he'd survived the night.
Regardless of the why, she'd disappeared without a trace, and with her any incriminating evidence of their raid on the University's equipment store. Kasper smuggled them back onto campus and they returned the stolen gear. Then they went back to their dorms. And got up the next day.
And had to pretend they knew nothing about the carnage of the night before.
Kenny lounged on the bean bag beside his bed, with a bag of potato chips in one hand. Gabi lay on her back perpendicular to him, her head resting on his thigh. She looked like she wanted to bury into herself and disappear, shoulders hunched and arms folded tightly as she watched the images on the screen. She'd barely spoken since showing up at their dorm in the morning.
"Devil worshippers," Kenny chuckled blackly, tossing a chip into his mouth and crunching down, shaking his head. "You think Nalen and the boys'll go for that?"
"If they've got nothing else to go on." Luke shrugged. Sitting in a chair at the kitchen counter, he sipped at a coffee. Things felt strangely calm now, after all the weeks of tension. Knowing that DeVergne was gone, the poachers were dead and nobody was watching his footsteps anymore – it left him feeling a little strange, like he had nowhere to direct all the nervous energy he'd been channelling for such a long time. Now things were back to ... normal.
Well, normal-ish.
"It's weird," Kenny continued. "Not being able to tell anyone about what we really know about all that. Like, we're the good guys, but we have to act like we've got the big dark secret."
"Well, we do have a secret."
"Yeah, I know, I just mean, would be nice to get a bit of recognition for being the heroes of the hour, wouldn't it?"
"Sometimes it just doesn't work out that way."
Kenny sighed. "Yeah. I guess it feels weird having this thing that we can't talk to anyone else about. Keeping secrets is a grind, huh?"
"I don't really feel like a hero," Gabi mumbled, picking at the cuffs of her hoodie. She rolled slightly, turning her face from the screen. Kenny glanced awkwardly down at her, unsure how to react. After a moment of hesitation, he reached down to put a hand on her shoulder. She tensed for a moment at his touch before relaxing again, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.
Luke bit his lip. She hadn't said it outright, but he didn't need to be a psychologist to know that she was struggling what she'd done last night. Poacher or not, Gabi had killed someone, and none of them could have prepared for something like that. Luke knew he'd probably killed the man he'd shot as well. So far he'd just tried not to think about it.
"I'd be dead if you hadn't..." his voice trailed off. "I know it can't be easy."
"I don't know how I feel." Gabi raked both hands back through her hair in frustration. "I don't... I don't even know if I regret it, but something just doesn't sit right."
"What went down last night was all kinds of wrong," Kenny offered. "You did what you had to do, Gabs. We all did."
"Yeah." She forced a rueful smile and folded her arms again. The noise of the TV filled the space around them. Aerial shots panned across the old house that had been DeVergne's killing ground, now swarming with deputies and forensics teams. Another shot filled the right half of the screen, showing a low flyover of the section of woodland that the poachers had torched. A broken sea of blackened, mangled trunks formed a dark wound in Lasquette Bay's evergreen surroundings.
"Makes you wonder doesn't it?" Kenny murmured as he stared at the images.
"About what?"
"You know, all those conspiracy nutjobs, all the people saying they've seen Bigfoot, the Abominable Snowman, werewolves, vampires, UFOs – how many of them did see something and just shot their mouths off about it?"
"More than you'd think, I guess." Luke shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "You're not going to, you know-,"
"Tell anybody?" Kenny gave him an amused look. "Not on your life. I wish I didn't know about this shit. I'm not about to try dumping it on anybody else. Like I told that Gallie woman, I can keep a secret."
Luke's opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by a gentle knock at the door. Gabi jerked upright into a sitting position, eyes snapping open as she turned towards the sound. Her lip piercing twitched nervously and she cleared her throat.
"Easy, easy." Kenny waved them both to stay seated and clambered up out of the beanbag. He crossed the room, but even he couldn't hide the residual nerves of last night. He gripped the door handle, paused for a moment, then leaned in close. "Yeah, who is it?"
"A friend," replied a muffled voice.
Kenny's shoulders visibly untensed. He straightened up and tugged the door open to reveal Oaklynn standing across the threshold, looking brighter than Luke had seen her in a long time.
The wound on her face had mostly healed now, with just a faint tinge of red-white left where her body still worked to undo the damage. Her dark hair spilled out from beneath a grey beanie and she wore a jet black top with a single long sleeve over her left arm. It sloped diagonally down across her body leaving her right arm bare, where the strap of her satchel rested. Below that she wore a denim skirt, leggings and a pair of flat-bottomed ankle boots.
All in all she looked so normal Luke could almost forget what they'd been through. He scrambled out of his chair, smoothing down his rumpled t-shirt and jeans.
"Hey," he said.
"Hey, yourself," Oaklynn replied with a smile. She looked to Kenny, then past him to where Gabi had stood up, hands stuffed into her hoodie pockets. "How are you guys doing?"
"Oh, you know, just getting to grips with the new normal," he replied with a wry smile, stepping aside and beckoning her inside. "Come on in. Good to see you in one piece."
Oaklynn stepped through. "Thanks."
"Hi," Gabi managed eventually. She moved a few steps closer, hesitant, as though unsure how to approach Oaklynn now that she knew the truth. "How are things with your... family?"
"We're healing."
Gabi stood there for a couple of awkward seconds, still wrestling for the right words. In the end she let out a short, sharp sigh and stepped forward, giving Oaklynn a hug. "I'm glad you're alright. This is all just... a lot."
"I know." Oaklynn returned the embrace. "But it's over now."
"Part of it is." They eased apart and Gabi shrugged. "I'm gonna be stuck knowing about Karkadda now, aren't I?"
"I can't change that, Gabi."
"I know, I know, I didn't mean..." She shook her head, scuffing a foot against the carpet. "Sorry. I'm just not really there yet."
"I understand."
"Anyway, I don't think you came here just to rehash good times with us," Gabi said quickly. She looked to Kenny. "Can we go for a walk, get some fresh air – something? I can't watch that damn news report any more."
He nodded sagely. "Yeah, why don't we catch up with you guys later?" He swept up his keycard from the bowl by the door and slid his phone into his pocket.
"Guys," Luke stuttered. "It's okay, you don't need to-,"
"It's cool, man, I could use some air too." He pointed past Luke to the arcade machine. "You guys know the rules, though. No touching if I'm not here."
"I'll make sure he doesn't lay a finger on it," Oaklynn assured him. "And thanks. Both of you, for everything."
"Don't mention it," Kenny laughed. "Like, seriously, don't mention it. I'm trying to having a happy little delusion right now that I'm back in the real world."
He cracked a lopsided smile as Gabi shuffled over to stand beside him. She gave Luke and Oaklynn a bobbing nod, then turned and tugged one of Kenny arms across her shoulders, like she was pulling on a blanket. Then they were gone, footsteps receding down the hallway. Oaklynn hunched her shoulders as the door closed gently behind her.
"Are they alright?" she asked after a moment.
"As alright as you can hope for, I guess," Luke answered, crossing the room and gathering her into a hug. "Kenny's managing. I think it's just going to take a bit of time for him to really get used to it, now that he's got time to actually take it all in."
"And Gabi?"
"Gabi..." He bit his lip. "She killed one of those poachers."
"They deserved it."
"That's not really the point, Oaklynn. She came here to study, not kill people." He sighed. "We can justify it however we want, but it's not the kind of thing you can just shrug off. She needs time. And I think she earned it."
"I know. It's just, it feels kind of like it's my fault, you know?"
"She doesn't think that."
She nodded, patting his chest with one hand. "What about the others?"
"Things are a little ... well, weird I guess. Kyan and Ally – I think they're still having a hard time really believing it. I'm grabbing lunch with Kyan tomorrow so hopefully we can hash some of this out and get back to some kind of normal."
"I'm sorry they're having to go through all this."
"Hey, at least we're all around to try," he answered. "What about you? How is everything with the herd?"
"Surprisingly, not bad." She took a hold of his hands in hers, tracing patterns on his palms with her thumbs. "I mean, people are still mourning the ones we lost, but Gallie's lodge needs rebuilt pretty much from scratch. I think doing that is keeping everybody's minds off of everything."
"And they're okay with... you and me?"
"Seems like it. With everything that's happened I guess me and you don't seem like such a big deal anymore. Some of the traditionalists are probably grumbling about it, but Gallie's still the law around there. If she says it's okay, then it's okay."
"So where does that leave us?"
Oaklynn grinned. Then she reached up, clasping his face in both hands and kissing him fiercely. Light danced in his vision as he leaned into it, his hands finding her waist. He felt her body tremor under his touch; her breath hitched in her throat and she pressed herself up against him. The electric tingle rushed across his skin for a moment. When she eased her face back and he opened his eyes, he saw her skin glowing.
"Let's find out."