The Demon Road Trilogy: The Complete Collection: Demon Road; Desolation; American Monsters

“Aw, everyone went insane. I knew the school would be mad and all, but they were threatening to expel us. It was crazy. Only reason they didn’t is cos they didn’t want the State Board to know about their dumb stories. But everyone, like, the whole entire town, was against us. Everyone except the old people. They didn’t see what the fuss was about. But our folks, some of our older brothers and sisters, they just … I didn’t know they’d take it so seriously.”

“Is that when you were beaten up?”

“Yeah,” Walter said, with an impressive amount of bitterness. “Broad daylight. Had to stay indoors the whole summer after that. People in this town are nuts, and they all worship that Medina chick.”

“Who?”

“Heather Medina. She’s the one who stopped Dacre Shanks from killing any more kids. According to the story.”

“Does she still live around here?”

“Yeah, lives over on Pine Street. Works in the library.”

“Brown hair?” asked Milo. “Silver in it?”

Walter nodded. “That’s her. She won’t even mention his name, though, so good luck trying to get anything out of her. She looks perfectly normal, but she’s as crazy as the rest of them. That’s why her husband left her, I heard. They expected us to believe a story like that, and then they were actually angry when we didn’t. Moment I’m old enough to drive I am out of here. I may not be able to spell or rhyme, but I’m pretty smart. Smarter than everyone in this town, anyway.”

“Definitely looks like it,” said Amber. “Thank you so much for your help.”

“Don’t worry about it,” the kid replied. “I’m assuming you’ll take care of this?”

He held up his bag of doughnuts so the teller could see it, and Amber smiled. “Sure thing, Walter. See you around.”

“Stay frosty,” Walter said, and walked out.

Amber paid for the doughnuts, and rejoined Milo and Glen as they were putting on their jackets.

“You think you’ll be able to get back in the librarian’s good books?” Amber asked.

“Don’t know,” admitted Milo. “Women have a tendency to learn fast around me.”

“Told you I should have talked to her first,” Glen said.

They left the cafe and walked back to the Charger, where a stocky man in his late sixties stood admiring her. He gave them a quick smile as they approached, and when Amber saw the star on his shirt her own smile faded.

“Now this is a damn fine automobile,” the man said. His moustache was a deeper shade of grey than his hair. “A friend of mine had one, back in my youth. Light gold, it was. A thing of beauty. He crashed it not far from here, going too fast, and he just lost control. That’s all there was to it. Nobody else was hurt, thank God, but my friend, he was killed instantly. I don’t know, ever since then, I see one of these cars and I just think … death.” He gave a little smile and a little shrug.

“Well, that is a story with a sad ending,” said Milo.

“Isn’t it just?” The man smiled at them, for real this time, though there wasn’t much friendliness in it. “How are you folks? My name is Theodore Roosevelt, no relation to the big man, I’m afraid. You can call me Teddy. As you can probably tell by the badge, I’m the sheriff ’round these parts. If no one has bothered to do it, I bid you welcome to Springton. Now what brings you nice people to our little town, I wonder?”

“Just passing through.”

“Ah, that old staple. Just passing through. It’s hard to make new friends when everyone’s just passing through, that ever strike you as a truism? I’m collecting them – truisms, that is. Collecting them, coming up with them, going to put them all into a book when I’m done, try and get it published some day. Kind of going for a homespun sort of feel, you know? Going to call it Words of Wisdom, something hokey like that. Hokiness sells.”

“That another truism?”

Teddy smiled. “I guess it is. Might not include it in the collection, though. So is this a family trip?”

“That’s what it is,” said Milo.

“You and the kids, on a family trip. Your wife not come with you?”

“I’m afraid she’s not with us anymore.”

“Oh, I am sorry to hear that, Mr Sebastian. I am truly sorry.”

The air went quiet around them.

“You checked the plates, huh?” said Milo.

“One of the perks of being the sheriff,” Teddy answered. “Funny, your details mention nothing about you having a family.”

Milo nodded. “The kids were born out of wedlock. They’re very self-conscious about it.”

“Very,” said Glen.

“Your kids don’t look a whole lot like you,” Teddy said. “Also, from what I hear from a certain elderly librarian, your son is Irish.” He hooked his thumbs into his belt loops. “We get people like you passing through all the time. Oh, and by ‘people like you’, I don’t mean the Irish. I mean gawkers. What I like to call bloodhounds. They hear about our town, hear we used to have a serial killer, and they come sniffing around, thinking how exciting it all is, how fun. But the wounds that man made still haven’t closed over, and you walking around asking clumsy questions is just going to get people’s backs up.”

“It’s my fault,” said Glen, his shoulders drooping. “I’m not his son, I’m his nephew. Yes, I’m from Ireland. But I’m dying. I don’t have long left.”

“That so?”

“It is. I came over here to see America before I … before I pass on. And yeah, you’re right, I asked to come to Springton because of the serial killer. I’ve always been fascinated with that stuff. A kind of morbid curiosity, I suppose. But I never intended to upset anyone, Sheriff. I’m really sorry.”

“What’s your name, son?”

“Glen, sir.”

“Well, Glen, I’m sorry to hear of your ill-health. What have you got, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Lupus,” said Glen.

Teddy frowned. “Is that fatal?”

“Oh yes,” said Glen. “Very.”

“You sure? I don’t think it is.”

“It’s not always fatal,” Glen said quickly. “If you get treatment for it, no, it’s not fatal. Rarely fatal. But I have a rare form of lupus that is very fatal.”

“Glen, forgive me for asking this, but do you know what lupus is? A friend of mine has lupus, a reverend. His joints get all swollen up, he gets rashes, he’s tired all the time, and his hair even fell out.”

Glen nodded. “I have the other kind of lupus.”

“The kind that has none of those symptoms?”

Glen bit his lip for a moment. “I get the feeling you’re not believing me.”