Page 71 of You Can Make Me

“What does he want with it?” I asked, feeling the lull of sleep. I was so tired, my body was tired of fighting, my mind was overtaxed.

“He wants its…”

Something yanked me under the surface of the water and everything went dark. I tried to swim to the surface, but I couldn’t move.

“Thank you, my dear boy. You’ve done very well.”

I opened my mouth to scream and water flooded my lungs.

Seventeen

Denny

At first I thought he’d fainted, and I panicked.

“He’s asleep,” Dane said. “Let’s get him out and dried off.”

“Yeah, and why don’t you guys stay here tonight? I’m sure he’s going to have more questions for Dane when he wakes.”

I carried him out of the water and Walter wrapped him in towels. Once we got back to the bedroom where we’d changed, Walter helped me dry him as best we could and then he left the rest to me, saying he’d bring some dry clothes for both of us. I pulled off Cooper’s shirt, lay him on the sheets, and tugged off the swim trunks. My mind was racing with all we’d learned.

Cooper had told me he’d dreamed of the carnival, but it turned out he’d been spending quite a bit of time in that particular sector of dreamland. If what Dane said was true, if this bastard Evans had created some sort of link with Cooper, the nightmare we thought was over might be just beginning.

I covered him with blankets and listened to his chest to be sure he was still breathing. Then I sat on the edge of the bed with my head in my hands.

Walter tapped on the door. “You guys okay?”

I shook my head. “I really don’t know. Fucking woo-woo bullshit. How the hell?—”

“I know,” he murmured. “We gotta shut this guy down, D. Gene should know soon the results of the examination of the body, but I know it’s not him.”

“Yeah. It can’t be that easy, huh?”

Walter gave Cooper a sad look, then he crouched down in front of me.

“I’m having déjà vu,” he said. “Except it was the other way around, you and Gene coming in to saveme.”

“I’m glad you found Dane, man, but this… Cooper’s just starting to get his life back. I don’t want this for him.”

“Then we gotta end this once and for all.”

“How, though? He’s getting to him in hissleep. How are we supposed to stop him, keep Cooper awake?”

“No, but look. Ryan and Kal are coming back down tomorrow for them to start rehearsals. Maybe Kal and Dane can help us find Evans by using the board. They’re strong together, some sort of residual effects from the carnival. They did it once, maybe they can do it again.”

“Until then? I can’t have Cooper upset, Walter. He’s been through so much,”

“I get it. Dane and I went through this too. However, now we know what we’re dealing with.”

Cooper stirred in his sleep. I bent down to kiss his forehead and gestured for Walter to follow me out of the room.

Dane was waiting for us in the kitchen.

With the board.

“Come with me,” he said.

My gaze darted towards the cracked bedroom door.