“If it means no more sleeping in rat-infested buildings, she’ll go for it.”

“I’ll talk Derek into giving us time to look for the camping gear tomorrow. I know you’re exhausted, so I won’t keep you up chatting, but you will tell me about the adventures I missed this time?”

I managed a tired smile. “Sure.” I started to turn away, then stopped. “You’ve got your watch alarm set, right? You’ll get me up after your shift?”

“I doubt either of us will be taking a turn. Derek only let me organize shifts because he wasn’t in the mood to argue. I’ll go out at three, but he won’t give up his post.”

“He needs sleep, too.”

“Agreed, and I will hassle him. But he doesn’t like us being here and there’s no way he’ll let someone without superhero strength and senses stand guard. The best thing we can do is find those tents and sleeping bags in the morning, get him to the nearest campsite, and let him sleep then.”

I got a few steps away before he said, “Chloe?”

I turned. The hall was dark, lit only by the living room light behind him, throwing his face into shadow.

“Was Derek…okay with you today? I know he was getting up in your face before we left Buffalo and I was worried. You guys seem fine now….”

“We are.”

When he said nothing, I said, “Really. We got along great, actually. A nice change.”

I couldn’t see his expression, but could feel his gaze on me; then he said softly, “Good.” A pause and a more emphatic, “That’s good. I’ll see you tomorrow then. We’ll talk.”

We headed for the bedrooms.

Once again, sleep and I weren’t on speaking terms. My brain was too busy playing in the land of nightmares.

I kept thinking of the woods surrounding the house. I’d hear a branch scrape the window and leap up, certain it was a bat and, of course, then start thinking of zombie bats, trapped in their crushed bodies….

After a Disneyfied dream of prancing through the forest, leading a singing trail of undead critters, I bolted awake, sweating, and decided it was time to give up the ghost…so to speak. I got out of bed and checked the clock. It was almost five, meaning Simon had been right about Derek not letting us take a turn. I got up, grabbed a coat from the front closet, and headed for the kitchen.

“Chloe,” Derek’s growl vibrated from the forest long before I could see him. “I told Simon I want you guys to sleep—”

He stopped as the smell of sausages drifted his way. I could imagine him sniffing the air, stomach rumbling, and I tried not to laugh.

I found him sitting on the grass in a clearing. I held out a lawn chair and a plate of sausages in buns.

“I know you won’t come in, so you might as well be comfortable. Unless you aren’t hungry…”

He took the sausages. I pulled a bottle of Coke from my pocket, then shucked the coat and passed them over.

“You should be sleeping,” he said.

“I can’t.”

“Sure you can. Just close your eyes and…” He studied me, then grunted, “What’s up?”

I looked out over the forest. The air smelled very faintly of woodsmoke, reminding me of the photo.

“I saw a picture of you and Simon. He said you guys had a camping spot out here. Is this it?”

“So we’re changing the subject?” He shook his head, set up the chair, sat, and looked at me expectantly for a moment, “Yeah. This is the spot.”

“It smells like someone else had a campfire going earlier tonight. Someone burning leaves? Or kids getting a jumpstart on summer?”

“So we’re definitely changing the subject?”

I paused, then lowered myself to the grass. “It’s just…this.” I waved at the forest. “I’m worried that I’m going to, you know, in my sleep…”

“Raise another corpse?”

I nodded.

“That’s why you couldn’t sleep last night, isn’t it? I thought about that later, on the bus. You were afraid she was buried out there—the girl you saw get killed.”

I nodded. “I was worried that if I drifted off, I’d keep thinking about her, about summoning her, like with the homeless guy. I can’t control my dreams. And I figured there was a good chance she was buried out there, never found.”

“So if you did raise her, and we left her body there to be found, that wouldn’t be such a bad thing, would it?”

“Maybe…if I knew I could safely raise her and release her quickly. But what if I…What if she didn’t dig her way out and I never realized I’d raised her and…”

I turned to look into the forest again.

“I’ll get you a chair, too,” he said.

I protested that I wasn’t staying, but he just kept going. When he returned, he came around the other way.

“I circled the house,” he said. “If there was a body on the property, I would have smelled it. The wind’s good tonight. You’re safe.”

“It’s not…it’s not just people I’m worried about.”

I finally told him about raising the bats in the warehouse.

“I didn’t summon them,” I said. “I didn’t even know I could do that with animals, that they had a soul, ghost, spirit, whatever. If I go to sleep and dream of any kind of summoning, there’s got to be a dead animal somewhere nearby. I could raise it and never know. I’d just walk away and leave it trapped in its corpse for—” I took a deep breath. “Okay, I’m freaking out, I know.”

“You’ve got a reason to.”

“It’s not like I’d do it intentionally, and maybe that should make a difference but…”

“It’s still not something you want to do.”

I nodded.

He took a gulp of the Coke, then capped it, stuck it into his pocket, and stood. “Let’s go.”

“Where?”

“I’ll hear anyone who comes near the property. So there’s no need to sit here doing nothing. We might as well hunt up some dead animals for you.”

I scowled. “That’s not funny.”

“I’m not being funny, Chloe. You’re worried because you don’t understand why it’s happening and how it works and how to stop it. We can experiment and get some answers. It’s not like either of us has anything better to do for the next couple of hours.”

DEREK CROUCHED BESIDE A flat, matted creature that had once scampered through the forest and now looked like it had been run over with a steamroller.

I tapped it with my toe. “I was thinking of something with more…”

“Remaining body parts?” he said.

“With more recognizable features, so I’ll know what I’m summoning. But, yes, more remaining body parts would help, too.”

“That was a mole. I think there’s a rabbit over there somewhere.”

“You can smell everything, can’t you? That’s cool.”

He looked at me, brows lifted. “Being able to find decomposing animals is cool?”

“Well, it’s a…unique talent.”

“One that will get me far in life.”

“Hey, someone has to find and clear away the road kill. I bet it pays well.”

“Not well enough.”

He stood and inhaled, then walked a few more feet, stooped, and prodded a chunk of rabbit fur.

“I’m definitely thinking something with more body parts,” I said. “Like a head.”

He gave a snort of a laugh. “It’s probably around here somewhere, but I suppose you want the parts attached, too.” He paused. “I wonder what would happen if—”

“Keep wondering, because that’s one experiment I’m not conducting.”

“We’ll find something.”

He walked a few more feet, then stopped again, shoulders going rigid as he surveyed the forest.

I moved closer and whispered, “Derek?”

Another slow scan of the woods, then he shook his head and resumed walking.

“What was it?” I asked.

“Voices, but they’re far off. Probably whoever had that campfire.”

Despite the dismissal, he slowed every few steps to listen.

“Are you sure it’s okay?” I asked.

“Yeah.”

“Should I be quiet?”

“We’re fine.”