“But then the whole Lennox family died in this fire that started in the church.” Felicia’s chirps were coming a little slower now, with pauses between words as she panted, trying to keep up with him. “Did you know that’s what the jump rope rhymes are about, the ones we learn in elementary school? They’re about that fire. It’s crazy. Anyway, the Siwards bought the place after the fire. They got it on the cheap, because almost everything was burned.”

“Uh-huh.” Brandon wanted to speed up, but he didn’t want to make Felicia feel bad. “Cool.”

“Hey, do you smell something cooking? It smells really good out here all of a sudden.”

Brandon didn’t smell anything, but he saw something ahead, under the massive oak that dominated the far end of the lake. He couldn’t tell what it was. All he saw was a big, dark shape.

For a second he thought it was the old church. It was supposed to still be on the grounds somewhere, though Brandon had never seen it. As he got closer, though, he knew it couldn’t be the church. The shape was too low and narrow.

“Hey,” he said to Felicia, since apparently she knew everything there was to know about Acheron. “What’s that up there?”

“Where?” Felicia looked in the direction he pointed. “Oh, do you mean the big tree?”

“No, I . . .” How could she not see it? It was huge. It looked almost like some kind of animal crouching. Lying in wait. Brandon picked up his pace, skirting the low, crumbling stone wall to his right. He stumbled, held his arms out, and managed to stay upright.

Brandon wished his heart would stop pounding so hard. It made everything seem unreal.

The shape up ahead looked like it was getting bigger. Or closer.

He wasn’t crazy. He was just still freaked about Maria. He had to keep moving, that was all.

“I’m going to run ahead a little ways,” he called back to Felicia. “Do you mind? I’ll meet you at the tree and then we’ll take a break. Is that all right?”

“Sure.” Felicia fell back to a trot.

Brandon sped up. This was faster than he usually ran in the mornings, but it felt good. His muscles strained to keep up the pace. He lifted his knees higher with each step. The harder he ran, the easier it was to forget that angry, guilty look on Maria’s face.

He sped up again. The shape by the tree was still there.

It was just a shadow. The world was full of them. This wasn’t some scary dream. There was no one else around. He was safe here.

He was a hundred yards from the tree when the shadow moved.

Brandon stumbled again, but he righted himself and kept running.