“I guess you probably have.”

“She looks really good for someone old enough to be your mother.”

“I couldn’t believe it when she told me who she was.  Not just that she got out of the house, but that I was even talking to her.  I mean I believed you…”

“You sort of believed me,” Eric challenged.  “You didn’t entirely believe me.  You never did.  You couldn’t have.  It’s too much to accept.  I didn’t even entirely believe it.  I’m still not sure I do.”

“I guess so.  But it was like when you sent me those first pictures.  Those things from the barn…  It was such a shock.”

“I know.  If it’s even remotely the way I felt when I saw all those things, when I experienced them, then I’m amazed that any part of you believed me at all.”

“I’ve known you too long to doubt anything you tell me.  I trust you.  It would be impossible for me to not believe anything you say to some degree.”

“That’s good.  Because I’m racking up some mileage over here.”

“You are,” she agreed.  “She’s really taken with you, you know?”

“What?”

“Isabelle.  She adores you.  She went on and on about you.”

“That’s…sweet…I guess.  I didn’t do anything though.  I just stumbled into the house.  She was the one who rescued me.  I wouldn’t be here now if it wasn’t for her.  I would’ve vanished into that house just like she did thirty-six years ago if she hadn’t appeared in that hallway and led me to her secret room.  I was nothing but trouble for her.”

“Well, she doesn’t think so.  She thinks you gave her the courage to get out of that monster’s house.  It’s kind of adorable.  I think she might even have a little crush on you.”

“That’s awkward.  I’ve never been into older women.”

“Thinking about it now, I kind of like it.  You’re her hero.  And she’s ours.”

“She’s definitely mine.  In fact, I seem to be collecting those today.”  He recalled Grant’s timely intervention with his tractor and Father Billy courageously taking on the freak-in-the-box.

“I’m just happy you’re running into so many helpful people.”

“I’m not sure how helpful most of them really are.  No one wants to tell me exactly what it is I’m expected to find in the cathedral.”

“Hopefully they all know what they’re doing.”

“No kidding.”

“So where are you now?”

“I’m heading toward what looks like an abandoned factory way out in the middle of nowhere.”

“That sounds lovely.  I can’t imagine it possibly going wrong.”

“I know.  What do you think?  Another of the foggy man’s golems or a nest of ravenous monsters?”

“Maybe it’s where you’ll have your epic showdown with the foggy man, himself.”

“Nice.  I can’t wait.”

“Isabelle promised me she’d watch out for you.”

“That was nice of her.”

“I’m really glad someone is.”

“You’ve done a fine job watching out for me yourself.”

“Me?”

“Yeah.  If it wasn’t for you, I’d still be standing around at that dock, trying to figure out where to go next.”

“You’d have figured it out on your own.  Eventually.”

“I’m not so sure of that.”

“I am.  You’re pretty slow, but you usually get it in the end.”

“Thanks.  You’re too kind.”

“I know.”

“Did Paul call you?”

“He did.  He’s in a real mess, isn’t he?”

“It’s pretty damn funny, isn’t it?”

“Kind of, yeah.  Did he send you a picture of the thing that won’t let him out of the cabin?”

“No.”

“I’ll have to send it to your phone.  It’s almost cute.”

“Doesn’t sound like Paul’s thinking about bringing it home.”

“No.  It doesn’t.”

“At least he’s safe in the cabin.”

“I know.  Hopefully Kevin can get to him before too long.”

“I hope so.”

“Oh, I’ve got to go.  Toni’s here for the cake.”

“That’s okay.  I’ve got to go get the living hell scared out of me by whatever’s waiting in this factory.”

“Have fun.”

“You know I will.”

“Eric…”

“What?”

For a moment, Karen was silent.  He could tell she was frightened.  Between all the pictures he’d sent her and now talking to the undeniably real Isabelle, it was becoming harder and harder to dismiss all these things with a joke and a smile.

“Be careful,” she said at last.

“I will.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“Bye.”

Eric said goodbye and hung up the phone.  He didn’t like hearing so much worry in her voice.  She was usually much stronger than that.  He could tell that she was ready for him to come home.

The factory loomed ahead of him.

It was silent.

The overgrown lawns and crumbling parking lots confirmed that this was not merely a day off.  No one had worked here in a very long time.

Glancing down at his phone again, he saw that he was beginning to lose his signal.  The factory was on the edge of the gray zone.  He recalled his dream.  This was like the lake.  He wouldn’t be able to go around.  The only path was through the facility.

Had the fissure always been here?  Surely a factory could not have been built in such a place without someone noticing it.  Perhaps the fissure was always growing.  Perhaps it had spread to this place only after the facility was built.  Or maybe it was like the resort and someone chose this place specifically because of the fissure, with intentions that went well beyond manufacturing American-made products.

He crossed the parking lot with its weed-choked cracks, following the same path he recalled taking in his dream, and found himself walking toward a heavy, steel door with peeling, green paint.

The lock was broken.  The door remained closed only because it happened to be weighted so that it rested closed.  He recalled this from his dream.  He also recalled the darkened hallway behind the door, the eerie silence that had settled with the dust.

Now he climbed the steps and pushed open the door, trying to prepare himself for whatever terror must await him in the darkness.

The hallway was brightly lit.

He stood in the doorway, confused, as a tall man in business casual clothes and a white hairnet walked from a doorway on the right-hand side of the corridor to a set of stairs on the left and ascended out of sight.  At the end of the short hallway was a door with a scuffed plastic window.  The room beyond was well-lit, too.  As he looked on, someone walked briskly by.

A heavyset woman in a pair of bright yellow coveralls came down the stairs and entered what appeared to be an office without glancing at him.

Where was the darkness he remembered?  Why were these people here?

In the dream, there had been no one.  The entire building had been bathed in gloom so deep it was difficult to see anything.  There had been no signs to indicate that anyone had been here in a very long time.

He stepped through the door, letting it bang closed behind him, and entered the room where the yellow-clad woman had gone.  This room was open and empty, filled with dust, but brightly lit.  There was another door in the far corner, but the room behind it was unlit.

He peered into this darkness and found only another empty room.  There were no other doors.  Where had the woman gone?  And where had she come from?  He hadn’t seen any cars outside.

There was no furniture in this darkened room.  No desks, no chairs, no office equipment filled the empty space.

He took a step back, away from the disconcerting darkness, confused, and turned around.

Walking toward him was a very large man in the same yellow coveralls the heavyset woman had been wearing.  In his meaty hands, he lifted a heavy-looking shovel into the air and swung it at Eric’s startled face.

Chapter Twenty-One

Eric closed his eyes.  He stood there, his back to the wall, cringing in anticipation of the blow.  But it never came.  When he dared a peek, the large man and his shovel were gone.