I shook my head. “I don’t know, but—”
“Listen, follow me down to the station. I’ll send out a search and rescue party. But I need to know what my men will be facing before I can decide just who to send.” She shook her head as I tried to protest that waiting might endanger Hank’s life. “I know very well it will put him at risk. But going in unprepared creates an even greater risk factor for everyone involved. I won’t send my people in without at least something to go on. The station’s only ten minutes from here. I’ll meet you there.”
Caitlin and I hurried back to the van. I glanced at her. “Can you drive this thing?”
She nodded. “Yes, I can. But what if Hank escapes while we’re gone?”
“You want to leave the van for him, just in case?” I turned to Killian. “Can you drive us down to the station and then back?”
He nodded. “Call Ari, though. Tell her to stay the hell away from here. You don’t want her coming out here when we’re all gone, and going in to look for you.”
“Good point,” I said, buckling my seat belt. Caitlin climbed in back again, and as we headed toward the main road, I called Ari.
“Hey, I was about ready to come out and meet you,” she said. “I just finished with my last appointment for the day.”
“Belay that thought,” I said. “Under no circumstances go anywhere near the asylum. I’ll tell you about it later. I’m headed to the police station now. I’m okay, don’t worry about that.”
I hung up, leaving her sputtering in my ear. I thought about Tad. Hopefully, he would recover. I remembered the sucker-like marks on his face. How did they play into it? What form had the creature taken? The gray-green thing that had been after Caitlin and me hadn’t had anything resembling suckers.
My mind was flying in a dozen different directions as we drove the distance to City Central. Killian found a parking spot near the door and Caitlin and I tumbled out in haste to talk to Millie. Millie had arrived before we had. She must know a faster route.
She was just getting to her desk when we entered the station.
The town of Moonshadow Bay wasn’t large, and neither was the police force. Millie motioned for us to follow her down the hall to her desk. The dispatcher waved us through the gate separating the reception area from the main floor. In a grim sign of the times, bulletproof glass separated the two areas, and the gate was actually a door, also made of bulletproof glass.
Millie’s office was comfortable, if small. Her desk was tidy, and her office looked very professional—there were no family pictures anywhere. I wondered if that was to protect her family’s privacy, or if there was another reason. She slid behind the desk, motioning for us to sit down.
“I’ve called the search and rescue team and they’re on the way. As soon as they get here, I’d like you to brief them on what they’re going up against.” She pointed at a mini-fridge in her office. “Would you like some soda or something?”
I nodded. My throat was dry from the cold. I peered in the fridge and pulled out two bottles of water, handing one to Caitlin. “Hydrate,” I said, sitting down. A wave of weariness hit me and I suddenly felt exhausted. The adrenaline of the afternoon was wearing off.
A few moments later four men and three women entered the room. The room was small, so they stood around the edges, lining the walls. Millie waited until they were settled in before turning to me.
“Please give us all the details of who we’re looking for, and what we might be facing,” she said.
Between Caitlin and me, we filled them in from the beginning to end.
“So from what Charles Crichton told me, and what we’ve discovered, we think the entire building is like a sentient beast. If enough of you go in there together, you’re probably going to be safe—but whatever you do, no matter what, don’t hive off. Don’t separate. We thought we’d be safe in pairs, but obviously we weren’t.”
“Tad said Hank was in the basement. I don’t even know where the basement is.” I turned to Millie. “Any idea where the entrance is?”
“Actually yes, the moment I heard Tad say that Hank was down in the basement, I got on the phone to town hall and had them do an emergency search for the blueprints. The entrance to the basement is on the west side of the building, in the room labeled 102. The room was a storeroom that was used for janitorial supplies, and the entrance to the basement is through there. There’s one other entrance to the basement, but it’s from the second floor and right now, I suggest you avoid going up there unless you absolutely have to. Take emergency medical supplies, along with oxygen—that’s the only thing that saved Tad.” Millie’s gaze traveled over the line of the search and rescuers. “Be careful—whatever is lodged in that building is deadly, and has been feasting on lives for over sixty years.”
A thought occurred to me and, as the S&R team filed out, I turned to Millie. “There were rumors that Psy’s ghost was killing people in December, but were there any other bodies found out in the woods nearby during other months—ones where there’s no apparent cause? Maybe there have been more deaths that have gone overlooked because everybody just assumed it was Psy’s ghost doing the dirty work.”
“I’ll check. I don’t want you going back to the asylum for now. If you go to watch the team, stay well away from the actual building. I’m going to cordon off the area when the search and rescue team’s finished.”
“We have to pick up the van,” I said.
“All right, but don’t go inside.” Millie gave me a somber look. “I don’t want to add your name to the list of the dead.”
I tapped Caitlin on the arm. “Let’s go find Killian.”
Millie gave us a wave as we headed out, her attention focused on her notes.
Killian was waiting for us. He drove us back to the asylum and we parked near the van. The search and rescue team had already arrived and while we saw their cars, they were nowhere in sight. I assumed they were deep into the building, hunting for Hank. The ambulance and two medics were waiting nearby, in case they were needed.
“I hope they find him,” I said, staring at the building. “I feel like it’s watching us.”
“The creature?” Killian asked.
“The building…creature…they’re one and the same now. I wonder if razing the building will do anything to destroy it.” But then I shook my head. “I doubt it, though. The curse was on the land long before the asylum was built, so it would just be without a form again. I don’t know which is more dangerous.”
“I’m thinking the focused form. The building gives it more of an anchor.” Killian shrugged. “That’s just my opinion. I’m not an expert in these things.”
“Me either, but I agree.” Caitlin bit her lip. “If the curse—hex—entity or whatever it is has too much focus in the physical realm, then it can interact more.”
Either way, this place was like psychic quicksand, waiting to suck down unwary visitors. We waited, but it was getting colder and darker.
I finally turned to Caitlin. “We should go. We can’t do anything else tonight.”