Darlene lowered the gun and Frankie turned.
There was a man standing on the porch. It was so dark she could hardly see him, though she could just about make out the shape of his mask. She knew it had to be Greg.
‘Take them inside,’ he said. ‘Now.’
The path to the cabin was almost blocked by a tree that looked like it had fallen a long time ago. Buddy and Darlene forced them to clamber over it, then followed. The man – Crow, Greg – had vanished, presumably inside the cabin.
The twins made Frankie and Ryan walk up the porch steps.
‘Careful,’ Buddy said. ‘Keep to the left.’
She did as he said, clinging to the handrail. She reached the top of the stairs and staggered.
‘For God’s sake,’ said Buddy. ‘Stay on your feet.’
Frankie wiped her brow. Her face felt wet and her sweat was cold and thick.
The front door stood open and darkness spilled from within. She didn’t want to go inside. She really didn’t want to go inside. But her legs were carrying her forward, Ryan holding her hand again, and Darlene was behind her with the gun. She had no choice.
The front door opened straight into what must have been the living room. In the dim light, she could make out a sofa and an armchair. A dresser in the corner with a photograph propped on a shelf and, what were they – candles? Piles of rubbish on the floor and the smell of something sweet and rotten. It was noticeably colder in here too, like summer hadn’t reached inside this place.
She heard the front door shut behind her.
All she could hear now was her own breathing.
‘Take them to the basement,’ said Crow. She could see his mask properly now. He stood in the doorway on the other side of the room; a doorway that led deeper into the house. With his mask, he looked grotesque – a demon. Something otherworldly. Something from another time, when the world was ruled by superstition. When people believed in dark gods.
Buddy grabbed hold of Frankie’s arm and tried to pull her further into the room. She resisted. Not the basement. She didn’t want to be taken to the basement. She stamped on Buddy’s foot and he cried out.
‘Jesus,’ said the man. ‘I’ll do it.’
He moved towards her. She could smell him, the sour-sweetness of body odour, and he took hold of her arm, his grip hard, digging into her bicep. He was strong. He dragged her towards the doorway. Towards the basement. Behind her, she heard Darlene hiss to Ryan, ‘Follow.’
The crow-man – surely Greg – pulled her through the doorway into a room that was even darker.
He let go. She couldn’t see anything.
And then he turned on a flashlight and reached down to grasp something at his feet.
Lifted a hatch in the floor.
She backed away. ‘No, please, no.’ But Buddy was behind her, and he took hold of her, stopped her from getting away.
The man got up and turned towards her. She could see the whites of his eyes through the holes in the mask.
‘Do it,’ he said, his voice muffled by the rubber mask.
Buddy shoved her.
She fell through the hole in the floor.
PART THREE
Chapter 36
I ran up the front steps of our cabin, fumbled for my keys, dropped them. I finally got the door open and pushed it so it banged against the inside wall. Behind me, Nikki melted away into the darkness.
I went inside. ‘Frankie?’ I called.
I ran into her bedroom, then my bedroom, the bathroom. I stood in the living area and looked around, stupidly, hopelessly, mind racing and whirling. Where was she?
Why had Nikki said she was sorry?
Sorry for what?
And then I saw it, on the couch. A white envelope.
I approached it tentatively, as if it were a bomb, or like it might be filled with anthrax, and opened it. Inside was a single sheet of paper, folded in half. A note, written in a lurching scrawl.
Frankie is safe.
Do not call the police.
Do not talk to anyone.
Ignore these instructions and you’ll never find her body.
More instructions tomorrow.
I read the note three times, ten times. I turned the paper over, searching for more words, but there were none.
I think I was in shock, unable to take all this in. Oh God, why had I left Frankie on her own? Why had I trusted Nikki? I had told Frankie to lock the door, but then it struck me: Greg had keys to all the cabins. That was how Buddy and Darlene had got into Donna and Tamara’s. They must have let themselves into my cabin and waited for Frankie. Why hadn’t I thought about that before?
But even as I tormented myself with regret, I realised something else. Something more important. This was no time to go to pieces. Frankie needed me. I had to stay strong. Strong and calm.