Sheriff Johanson revved his four-wheeler through the roads and on the dirt paths through the woods. When something caught his eye, he parked on the Bayfront and walked over to the edge of the water.

  The bay was angry. The water sloshed and spilled and tumbled and crashed. Lightning struck farther out on the water and the thunder reverberated onto the land. The lightning lit up the purple and gray sky and made visible the reason Johanson had stopped.

  Out in the bay, where the water became significantly deeper, was a mass of string-like limbs extending from and crashing on the water.

  The sheriff looked at his pistol and the shotgun over his shoulder.

  “Fuck.”

  A few rounds of silver bullets and shells would not be enough to kill whatever that beast in the water was.

  He had heard old sailor myths and seen pictures before, but seeing it in real life sunk his chest with doom. It was not something he could handle alone, if at all.

  Johanson straightened out his backpack. It carried the ancient book and notes Leland left behind. He swung himself back onto the seat of the four-wheeler. He had only seen and killed a couple of what he was now calling demons. He wasn’t sure where he’d find Terry, or if the boy was still alive. Either way, he needed to search for more people who had survived and come up with a plan to kill Cadence.

  He looked back as he drove away. The demon out in the water would have to be saved for later.

  How would one even begin, he thought, to kill the Kraken?

  Michael leaned back in his chair. He could have fallen asleep if his head hadn’t felt like it was splitting open. Despite the pain, he didn’t cry or whine, he only flinched sporadically every few minutes.

He was brought food by odd-looking creatures. The food wasn’t top-tier like a prince should be given, but he could make do with snacks smuggled from abandoned stores.

  Michael chewed on a granola bar and watched Cadence swim in the blowup pool she had ordered be brought to her. He remembered why he thought she was an angel when he first met her. Her skin radiated beauty and her voice soothed him. Thanks to their deal, he could be by her side as well as get revenge on the person ruining everyone’s lives.

  It wasn’t in any way luxurious, but once he helped Cadence complete her plan, he would be living in a mansion and would be given favor by The Great One.

  Bella kept her head facing forward. Seeing Terry do what he had done to the deer-looking monster played over and over in her head. She knew that it made sense. They needed to kill these things. The sound of the guts sloshing filled her head. She shook her head, hoping to shake away the thought.

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  Terry had said, “never again.”

  She believed him. They left the pile of vomit and disintegrating body behind and it was now a mile away. Terry’s shaking was visible, and his breathing was heavy as he walked in front of her.

  Bella thought about home. She left to help Terry because she could tell by his demeanor that this wasn’t something he could do alone. He kept his head down whenever they talked about Cadence and getting the crystal back. She thought about her mom, dad, and twin brother, and hoped they were okay. She knew they were okay. Michael was probably lying in bed playing his video games. Her mom was more of a worry. Knowing the woman, she was worrying herself sick over Bella and Terry disappearing. Bella knew she would have to apologize and take any punishments when everything was over. She just hoped everybody was safe at home.

  The sound of a shotgun filled the air.

  Terry and Bella both stood still and made eye contact with each other.

  “We should check that out,” Terry said.

  He was right, Bella thought. That could be someone who could help them, and they might need help against whatever they were shooting at. It didn’t sound like it was too far.

  The two of them crept through the woods for a bit. There was another banging sound of a shotgun. They stepped over dying bushes, tree roots, and rocks that covered drawing ant mounds. When they got to the source of the sound, they peered over the bush to see a man standing over a disintegrating body of a monster. Nearby was a house with flickering lights waving in the window. Somebody was still in there.

  Bella felt a stick crumble under her boot. It crunched through the noise of rain.

  “Who’s there.” The man immediately swung the shotgun in their direction. “Come on out, now.”

  The man's finger was on the trigger and he did not waver.

  Terry and Bella sighed.

  “Fuck,” Terry said under his breath.

  They two kept their hands up and took small steps out of the trees.

  Bella kept her eyelids slim. With her arms up, she couldn’t wipe away the raindrops. The face of the armed man was not visible to her in the shadows.

  There was a gasp. “You kids are okay?”

  Terry breathed a sigh of relief and Bella wiped the rain from her eyes. Right in front of her was a man she only saw on occasion, but he was always driving around the town talking to people and trying to help out others.

  “You two need need to dry off first, but I have a lot of things I need to talk to Terry about,” Sheriff Johanson stated.

  “Yes sir,” Terry said. “But, we need to get to the center of town to stop a…” His voice drifted off.

  Bella could tell why. Even with all of this stuff happening, it could feel ridiculous to explain to an adult that an evil woman was threatening the town.

  “I know all about Cadence.” Sheriff Johanson nodded to Terry.

  Terry breathed out a sigh of relief.

  Sheriff Johanson motioned his chin to the house. Bella and Terry started walking to the front door of the home.

  “Just found them about twenty minutes ago, but ther’s a small group of other survivors staying here. We’ll be safe here while we discuss everything.”

  The door opened for them as they approached it. A young lady peaked her head out the door. When she seemed to notice who it was, she let them in. She bolted the door behind the three of them after they stepped in. A teenager disappeared, but then after a minute returned with three towels.

  “Thank you Kylie,” Sheriff Johanson nodded to the teenager. He turned to the young lady and a man that was standing near the back. “Is it okay if I talk with Terry privately in the dining room?”

  They nodded an answer.

  Sheriff Johanson looked at Terry. “We have many things we need to discuss.”

  Terry nodded. “Guess so, yeah.”