Page 25 of Into the Dark, We Go

Mitchell shifted his jaw, then gave a small grunt of agreement. "Alright. We’re going there anyway. Let’s just concentrate on these," he said, tapping his finger on the folded map under his hand. "I agree, Black Water might be our best bet."

Nick finished his first slice of pizza, and as his initial hunger was sated, he turned and said, "Can you show me the sign Lucas and Amanda kept again?"

June looked at her brother, who nodded his consent. She slid the phone to Nick.

"So, what do you think?" she asked after he examined the photos for a few seconds.

"I’m not sure."

"Come on, you’re not gonna tell me you don’t know anything? Your mom was, like, a psychic."

I wasn’t sure why June was clinging to Nick’s mother so much. My mother was a nurse, and I didn’t know the first thing about CPR or anything else medically sound.

Whatever Nick felt, he kept it to himself this time. "What does that have to do with anything?"

June snorted, but I interjected once again to diffuse her. "How about we talk to Lucas’s parents first and see where that leads us?"

"What about this sign, then?" June insisted, tapping her phone screen.

"Alright, let’s play it smart," her brother said. "We can ask around about this symbol, but let’s not go waving it in Lucas’s folks’ faces. Might spook them. You know what his folks do for a living, by the way?"

The last question was addressed directly to me.

"I think his father owns a business," I paused as I racked my brain. "A sawmill, maybe? Or was it a lumberyard? Something with wood, anyway." I snapped my fingers, trying to conjure up the memory. "And his mom is a stay-at-home mom, I’m pretty sure."

Whatever we had was very sparse, but it was something.

At the very least, the pizza was good.

We arrivedat the rundown motel, the neon sign creaking in the wind. June shot her brother a disapproving look.

"What the hell did you book?"

"I booked whatever had room for four people! It looked fine in the pictures! And it’s just for one night, anyway."

While Mitchell was checking us in, June browsed Google for reviews, her brow furrowed with concern. I shared her unease but decided not to say anything. Mitchell paid out of his own pocket for all of us, and I didn’t want to upset him. Nick kept to himself, seemingly trying to avoid any further confrontation with June.

She gasped at her phone. "Look at this! Someone wrote there were bloodstains on the sheets!"

The tired clerk gave her a blank stare as if to say,‘Yeah, yeah, heard this one before,’ and then turned to Mitchell. "Anything else?"

June kept pushing, "Do you sell plastic sheets and Clorox?"

"No, but you can try Dollar General, about half a mile from here," the clerk replied, handing us the keys.

As soon as we entered the room, June pulled back the covers to check if her sheets were clean. They appeared to be fine.

"You should also check for bedbugs behind the headboard," I suggested. "I mean, if you want to be really thorough."

June scrunched her nose, visibly repulsed. "Eww."

She tried to push the entire bed set away from the wall to no avail.

I chuckled and checked my sheets and mattress for suspicious stains as well. I’m not a germaphobe, but sleeping where someone might have been killed wasn’t something I could easily dismiss.

June grumbled for a little longer and finally settled down in bed, having inspected it once again with her phone flashlight.

Just as we were getting ready to sleep, she suddenly asked, "Do you think they’re still alive?"