Murphy grabbed my arm.

“Lee, there’s nothing there. Now come on. Shouldn’t be much farther.”

But I could see them plainly, tongues of fire flickering in the wind and rain. I wanted to touch them. I reached out over the grave.

“Come on,” said Murphy, yanking me onward, past the grave and onto a side trail. “This will take us to the northern edge of the property. That’s where I saw it. I’m positive.”

We tromped on, thunder booming, the rain shuddering me down to my bones. My shirt hung tight and wet against me like a second skin. It was like we had wandered into a hurricane, and Murphy only wanted to take us farther, into some dark discovery.

“Jeremiah,” I whispered, “what am I doing here?”

We walked farther, branches whipping our faces, snagging our clothes, the rain pelting us so hard it stung. My shoe got stuck in the mud. When I yanked it out my whole foot was covered up to my ankle. I wondered where all the creatures of the forest were—all snuggled up in their dens, in their nests, in the warm little nooks of trees. I didn’t know how anything survived a night like this in the wild.

The woods were denser here, the trees all tangled together with no clear trail through. It was hard going, especially in the rain. Part of me wanted to turn back, to go back to the house, to get warm and dry again. My shoes sank deeper into the mud, and I was scared of losing one. I didn’t want to have to walk back barefoot. This was stupid, and we were going to get in trouble, and whatever Murphy was going to find out here, I knew it was something she couldn’t possibly understand. I was the one with the visions, I was the one who spoke to Jeremiah. Murphy had her own role, sure, whatever that was, but she was dealing in things beyond her, things not meant for her.

But I couldn’t quit now. The Gentlemen had promised me a secret out here, and I was going to find it.

Lightning flashed, a bright gashing bolt that pierced the tree veil above us and revealed the forest in light. I saw something in the woods, a hooded figure not twenty feet from me, a walking shadow among the trees.

I grabbed Murphy by the arm.

“Murphy,” I said. “There’s someone out here.”

“No, there isn’t. Enough with your hallucinations already.”

“I’m not kidding, Murphy. I saw somebody. They were dressed in black, and they had a hood on, like some kind of monk or something.”