Savannah mustered a nod.

Cole aimed the flashlight at the windshield. Metal clanged from inside, causing Savannah to jump. A creak of bending steel followed. Then came a groan, so deep and resonant it hardly sounded human. More groans echoed the first. They were like yawns, only deeper, almost beastial.

Cole and Savannah stepped back together.

The noises intensified. Shadows moved through the murky glass. The bus began to shift on creaky axles.

Cole put a finger to his lips, then moved around to the side of the vehicle. Savannah followed. Raising his arm again, Cole shined the light into one of the open windows.

A head popped into the beam.

Cole cried out and fell backward off his feet, bringing Savannah down with him.

Instinct told him to grab Savannah’s hand and run and not stop until their legs gave out. He was a breath away from doing it when Mona called out to him.

Her arm came up slowly, motioning Cole toward her. “Come here, boy. Come quickly.”

He took Savannah with him. They fell to their knees at Mona’s side.

“Take it easy,” he whispered. “It’s all right. Everything’s going to be all right.”

Mona shook her head. “No. It wasn’t right. I can see that now. I can feel it. It … it didn’t fully take.”

Cole’s gut sank. “What do you mean, it didn’t take? Mona, what are you talking about?”

She coughed, strangled on her own breath. Cole saw the life draining out of her.

The bus was rocking violently now. The groans were getting louder.

Mona took hold of Cole’s collar. “It’s up to you now. My time has come. Now I must pay the price—my penance for getting what we wanted.”

“What’s that, Mona? What were we really hoping for here?”

“You know the answer to that, Cole.” Her eyes widened. “Revenge. It was revenge we sought here more than anything. But our work has come at a great price. Those boys on that bus are not the boys you knew yesterday.”

“What does that mean?”

“They’re damned, Cole.” The words came out in a whisper. “It was the only way I could bring them back. They are as damned as I am now.”

Her eyes rolled back. The lids fluttered closed.

Cole took her by the shoulders. “What do you mean, damned? Mona, you have to tell me what that means!”

Her eyes opened. She held his face in her hands. “The forces at work here are dark, boy. There is much more at stake now than just winning a game … much more than just revenge. But you must hurry. There isn’t much time before the change.”

“What change? Mona, what the fuck are you talking about?”

“The bad change. Two days, Cole. You must hurry. Because after the change … it will be too late for them.”