Page 85 of Coven of Corpses

“Good thing the water was included in the rent,” Cody said. “Let’s all try to get as comfortable as possible, and then we can talk about next steps.”

Greg and Alice approached him, and Demetrius had to remind himself he was supposed to be Cody. The weight of exhaustion came down on him, and he decided it would be easier for them all if they just came clean about everything to everyone. For God’s sake, they’d been chased out of Parson’s Pines by a demon-possessed tree, so he was pretty sure Cody’s parents would be able to understand they’d swapped bodies.

“This was your office?” Greg asked.

“Yep, this was the home of Critter Catchers,” Demetrius said, then looked over at Cody. “I think we should all talk. In the break room.”

Cody frowned. “Should we?”

“We should. It would be easier for all of us,” Demetrius said. “And they deserve to know everything that’s going on.”

Cody’s shoulders sagged, but he nodded. “Yeah, you’re right.”

The others watched as Demetrius and Cody led the Bowers into the heavy shadows of the break room. They both activated the flashlight app on their phones and set them on the counter to provide light.

Demetrius turned and smiled at Cody’s parents. “This may be hard to understand.”

“Harder than understanding how a tree could uproot itself and chase us?” Greg said.

“Yeah, good point.” Demetrius looked at Cody who shrugged and nodded. Turning back to the Bowers, Demetrius said, “Something weird happened to us out in the woods…”

* * *

They understood what had happened faster than Demetrius had expected, though they had a number of very detailed questions. Afterward, there were several hugs and a lot of head shakes before the four of them left the break room. Amelia and Otis stood with Tracey, looking at something on her phone. Eileen and Dieter had moved the card table closer to the big window and sat in folding chairs, using the light from the parking lot to look through a binder.

Eileen looked up. “They caught up?”

“They are,” Cody said, putting an arm around his mom.

“It’s hard to believe, but we know what you all know,” Alice said.

“Doubt that,” Tracey said.

“What’s going on?” Demetrius asked.

“Finalizing the plan,” Dieter replied with a smile. He’d loosened his bolo tie and opened the top button of his white shirt.

“And what would that be?” Cody said.

“To end all of this once and for all,” Amelia said. “Hasn’t that been the goal all along?”

“Well, yeah,” Demetrius said. “But other than the ritual, I didn’t know we had even the beginnings of a plan.”

Tracey frowned. “We’ve always had the beginnings of a plan.”

“Care to share it with us?” Cody said. “From the beginning?”

“Seriously?” With a sigh, Tracey closed the app on her phone. “Fine. Everybody listen up, because I’m tired of explaining this.” She looked around, and when she was certain she had the attention of everyone in the room, began to speak. “During the vampire infestation at Halloween⁠—”

“The what?” Alice exclaimed.

Tracey glared at Demetrius. “I thought you’d caught them up?”

“We did,” Demetrius said, feeling sweat break out across his body under the force of her glare. He made a face and said more quietly, “About this situation. Not about, you know, all of it.”

“Mom, Dad,” Cody said in a gentle voice. “Try to hold your questions until after, okay? I know it’s a lot, but we’ll talk more once Tracey’s done.”

“Sure, okay,” Greg said, then shook his head as he looked between them. “Still so strange.”