They murmured to each other in low voices; words he couldn’t make out. They sat on the rock and the male teacher produced a bottle and swigged from it, passing it to the woman. They had brought a battery-powered lantern with them, which illuminated her face as she took a drink. She was skinny but kinda hot.
They passed the bottle back and forth a few times, and then they moved close together.
They started to kiss.
He must have made a noise because the woman broke free of the kiss and looked in his direction, though he was too well hidden in the trees, in the dark, for her to see.
The man said something, probably reassuring her, and then they were kissing again. They were deep kisses, like characters in movies, the grown-up movies he would sometimes watch when his mom wasn’t around – VHS tapes one of her boyfriends had left behind. 9 1/2 Weeks. Basic Instinct.
And then the teachers started to take their clothes off. The man first, pulling his T-shirt over his head, and then she did the same. The man kissed the hollow of her neck and she reached behind and unfastened her bra, letting it fall to the forest floor.
Crow couldn’t believe his luck.
He watched the whole thing. It was over too quickly. But it was the greatest thing he’d seen in his life.
The teachers both stood, giving him a full view of their naked bodies. They embraced, and for one excited moment he thought they were going to do it again, but they parted and dressed hurriedly. They walked quickly across the clearing and vanished from sight.
The next day, he crept on to the campground, concealed in the trees, and watched them. It wasn’t long before he overheard some kids say their names. Mr Daniels. Mrs Fredericks. It took most of the day to get their first names. Eric and Sally. He watched them huddled together, whispering, and wondered if they were making plans to return to the clearing that night. He saw their wedding rings. Different last names. He knew some people didn’t change their surnames when they got married, but the way these two were acting, the sneaking around, the way they behaved during the day – the exchanged glances they didn’t think anyone saw – he knew they were cheating.
When he got home, he looked them up online. Their school had a rudimentary website with a page that listed all the faculty members with brief bios.
And when he returned to the clearing that second night, he saw he’d been right about their whispering. They came back. Did again what they’d done the night before.
Suddenly, he knew what he could do.
He pushed the idea away at first. It was too awful, too risky.
Wasn’t it?
But he kept coming back to it. Thinking it through. He examined it, rejected it, then came back to it again. The idea excited and appalled him, but if he could pull it off, it would be perfect. The only really worthwhile thing he’d achieved in his short life. He barely considered the rights or wrongs of it. Certainly didn’t care about the teachers. They were cheaters, just like most of the men his mom brought home, the ones who made her cry and curse their names. His dad had been one too, apparently. That’s why she’d kicked him out when Crow was just a baby.
And these two – didn’t they represent everything he hated? That damn campground. The invasion of this sacred space. Of Abigail’s space. It was a cancer, just like the cancer that had spread through Abigail’s body and that would continue to spread, to pollute, to ruin her eternal home. To kill her a second time.
Something had to be done.
And he was the only person who could make it happen.
Clever boy, Abigail whispered. Always my most special boy.
Do it, she said.
It’s way past midnight now.
He ought to check on the kids in the basement, throw them down a couple of bottles of water. He’ll do it in a minute. First, he wants to sit here for a moment before Abigail’s altar, and give thanks.
Because today is a very special day. Tonight marks the new moon.
A new phase – not only in the lunar cycle, but in the history of the Hollows.
A beginning, and an end.
Chapter 39
Thursday
Somebody was knocking on my cabin door, calling my name. I jerked upright. There was saliva on my chin and my tongue felt like there was fur growing on it. Guilt slapped me. How could I have fallen asleep when Frankie was out there? I checked the time – nine fifteen!
I thought back to last night. After leaving Nikki’s I had come back to the resort. I’d found David and Connie searching with help from Neal. There were still some stragglers from the barbecue around, drunk people half-asleep on the grass, a few revellers gathered around the embers of the bonfire. But there were no staff around. No sign of Greg, of course, or Vivian. Reception was still locked up. It felt like all the staff had gone home and abandoned us.