She pulled herself out from under the water, breathing deeply as she used a towel to dry her face.

Kant was her most reliable contact at Gallows Hill. He’d answered almost all of her questions so far. But his answers tended to be short, and he wouldn’t be back until the next morning.

There was another avenue Margot thought might be more helpful. Nora and Ray, managers at the store, had invited her to have a chat with them. Nora had mentioned she could tell Margot about the place’s history.

Margot went upstairs. As she passed her room, she couldn’t keep from glancing inside. Although she’d scattered some of her possessions about the space—clothes in the wardrobe, books on the bedside table—it still felt more akin to a hotel room than something that belonged to her. She found her phone in the bathroom and slipped it into her pocket.

Then she returned downstairs, pressed through the creaking front door, and set herself on the winding driveway that led to the main road.

Her grandmother’s home had been in a tightly packed suburb, where there were always children riding bikes along the street and bodies gathered at the bus stop. University had been so crowded it was sometimes hard to find space to be alone, and after her grandmother’s death, she’d moved to the outskirts of a city, where she shared an apartment on a fourth floor overlooking a wall of similar buildings.

Her life had been a string of densely populated areas…until now. Gallows Hill felt sparse in a way she’d never known. She could have filled her lungs with air and screamed at the top of her voice and she doubted anyone would hear.

Even as the driveway took her past the staff buildings, they were still far enough away that she couldn’t make out any of the bodies moving between the houses and the work areas, and she didn’t think any of them were able to see her as she continued down the gentle, swelling slope.

The sun was already at a long angle. Margot checked the time on her phone and grimaced. She’d burned through more of the day than she’d expected. She wouldn’t have more than an hour before dusk started to darken the horizon.

Witchety said to stay indoors after dark.

She’d have to keep her visit short. Nora and Ray were probably preparing to close the shop anyway. If it wasn’t already shut. She hadn’t thought to ask their opening hours.

In the distance, the dark form of the storefront appeared through the anemic trees. Margot thought she saw a glow of light coming from its window and quickened her pace. The parking area was empty, so she ducked around the sign welcoming visitors and skirted the display barrels to reach the door.

“Oh! She’s here!”