Page 33 of Coven of Corpses

“The fuck?” Oliver said.

“We need to go,” Demetrius said. “Now.”

“Already there.”

They both walked backward to the doors. Pushing the release bar with his backside, Demetrius stepped through and held the door for Oliver. As they drew in deep breaths of fresh air, Oliver tapped his phone to stop recording, then looked at Demetrius.

“What the fuck was that?”

“It wasn’t Heath, that’s for sure,” Demetrius said. “Let’s get out of here.”

They got in the car and Oliver started the engine, pulling out of the parking space. A small knot of people stood talking in the adjacent parking lot, and their heads turned as they watched them pull away. Demetrius could see another library employee among them, an older man whose name he couldn’t recall. He was pale and wide-eyed, and the breeze ruffled his white hair.

“So, if Heath’s not the witch, what the hell is he?” Oliver said.

“I don’t know. But what he said was interesting. He said we’d seen the one who freed him and wanted to use him.”

“That’s got to be the guy we saw in the woods, right?”

Demetrius nodded, his brain in overdrive. “I would guess so.”

A sheriff’s car approached, heading for the library, its lights flashing and siren blaring. Oliver pulled to the curb to let it pass, and they saw a couple of male deputies inside. Once it had gone past, he started driving again. They were quiet, Demetrius watching the houses go by outside his window.

“I’m just mindlessly driving,” Oliver said. “Any thoughts?”

“You used to be a reporter.”

“Finally, the correct phrasing,” Oliver said. “Used to be.”

“What would be your next move? All of your leads have hit dead ends. Where would you go next?”

Oliver tapped a beat on the steering wheel as he thought. “Two routes. I’d either go to the sheriff’s office and try to find out some details about the body in the woods, or, if I knew the identity of the victim, I’d work on retracing their steps. Find out who saw them last and where, that kind of thing.”

“Smart,” Demetrius said. “Tracey told Cody she and Heath and Rita were out in the woods when everything went to shit.”

“Rita ended up dead and Heath is…what? Possessed?”

“Seems that way. I’ll try calling Tracey. Maybe she’ll pick up if she sees it’s me calling.” He placed the call but it went right to voicemail. After leaving a message saying he wanted to check on her and asking her to call him back, he disconnected. He had a thought and tried calling Clarabell. The call went right to voicemail as well, so he left her a message before ending the call.

“Well, those were my two usual contacts for stuff like this,” he said.

“Maybe Rita talked about what she was doing with people she worked with,” Oliver said.

“Drives Rite?” Demetrius made a face. “Not sure I want to go there.”

“Why not? Oh, that’s where that guy worked,” Oliver said. “The one Cody whacked in the head.”

“Phil Wolek, yes. And he was attacking me, so Cody was being protective.” Demetrius sunk in the seat a bit and ran his hands up and down his thighs. He’d never set foot in the repair shop before, and he didn’t really look forward to it. But if it might help them find some answers, he supposed he should do it. Tracey and Clarabell were both unreachable, so if stopping in at Drives Rite could help them identify the witch, they needed to do it.

“Think they’ll have an attitude with you?” Oliver made a quick left turn, adjusting his trajectory through town.

“Nothing that happened back then seemed to affect their business,” Demetrius said. “And from what I understand, back on Halloween they were selling plastic wigs that looked like exposed brains, so they were definitely leaning into their reputation.”

“Seriously?” Oliver looked thoughtful. “That does sound pretty cool.”

“Yeah, a lot of shops came up with fun gimmicks. But, still… not the best taste since one of their own employees became a zombie and tried to eat me.”

“Yeah.” Oliver was quiet a moment, then admitted, “I bought a werewolf ears headband.”