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"Well," Mike said, "fair’s fair You smell pretty bad"

"Thanks, kid, I knew you’d haveNakamichi Home Audio system He had five disks in the trays, a mix of classic rock and blues Leadbelly started it off by singing "Bourgeois Blues," and the disks that folloent from The Ides of March’s "Vehicle" to Pink Floyd’s "Wish You Were Here" to Albert King’s "Born under a Bad Sign," all of it wrapped up by Big Bill Broonzy singing about "Trouble in Mind" It was theout to Dark Holloith Newton, and he almost turned it off, but didn’t The music wasn’t any kind of threat The music was a safe place and even the first few notes of Leadbelly’s rough voice were iht hiht help until I can get some food delivered"

"Thanks, Mike" He looked at the bottle "My favorite flavor Green"

Mike sat on the ar? I mean, I heard so about you, and you told me some stuff, but--"

"Can it wait until I have a shower?"

"Sure," Mike said "You don’t…uh…need help in the bathrooive thanks for that"

"Amen," Mike said, and went back into the store

2

Vic finished his shower and dressed in fresh clothes, going slowly through the steps of washing, drying, and dressing His body hurt as if he’d been sto Doc Martens When he pissed his urine stream was tinted red, and when he brushed his teeth he spit as much blood as toothpaste into the sink He blew his nose carefully to clear away the clots of blood, and used a rag and then Q-tips to clean his ears His old clothes--stained with shit, piss, and blood--he duot fro Lois clean them up He’d just throw them the hell out Shoes, too He wanted to traces, no reminders Never, not once in his whole life, not since he’d first met Ubel Griswold in 1970, had Vic been punished The memory of it--what he could re, so traumatic that all he felt inside was a vast e his shirt and then sat down on the edge of the bed, putting his face in his hands, feeling lower than he ever had

"What do I have to do to make it up to you?" he whispered "You tell me, Boss, and I’ll tear down Heaven for you I’ll burn this whole town to ashes Anything You just tell ht"

The voice--that sweet, dark voice--was there in an instant The presence of it after soas that screae had been and Vic toppled forward onto hands and knees, then collapsed onto his forearms so that his broas pressed into the carpet

"Tell s on an autuht, Ubel Griswold named the price for redeht it would Neverthless he closed his eyes and kissed the floor He would do anything--even that--for his god

3

Ruger touched the handle, feeling the roiling darkness beyond the door Vic be da out to hunt To kill and to recruit; to build the arainst the tued and snapped and the door sagged open in defeat

With a snarl of delight he pushed the door open and vanished into the night

4

Terry Wolfe’s face was bruised one The vitals on the ed, and the brain activity was just above the level where fa

Yet there are some levels of the brain, some chambers of the sleep center that have thicker doors, stouter walls, fewer entries The deepest drea out in shadowed corridors and in cellars where no light has ever shone There are cobwebs and spiders down there; there are blind rats in those catacole in the relentless dark Noor beep when soh those places

When the doctors and nurses came into his room to look at the patterns on his charts their faces fell into sadness, their eyes showed the defeat each of them felt Everyone loved Terry, everyone respected him He was Pine Deep, but it was pretty clear that Terry Wolfe had left theht train out of town, and now all they could do--the su, their collective experience, the weight of their science--was to watch and wait for him to die Because Terry had left

Yet, he hadn’t Nor had the beast

Over and over again, through lightless passageways and darkened dungeon rooms, into one blind alley after another, in the doorlessand the beast, always hungry, followed after

Chapter 12

1

Weinstock glanced at Crow and then turned a hard look on the caretaker "There’s soion?" thewide as he did indeed step back "Froht this fella was murdered"