“Why?” was all Alana could think to ask. “What could they possibly promise you that was worth this?”

That made Donna smile. “Everything, you dumb bitch.”

That was the darkness talking. Donna’s reptile brain, the part that governed aggression and fear, was swollen with hormones as the corruption fed upon her arm. Soon, she would forget why she cared at all about her family, and would see them as nothing more than protein. Alana had seen this in the Compendium.

“Were you like this before?” Stupid question. But she wondered. How could this woman raise Riley, who seemed like such a sweet kid?

She knew what she had to do. Her mother had been clear about this, from the very start. The evil could not be allowed to spread. No matter what.

“I’m sorry,” Alana said.

Donna looked confused, like she was about to protest, but Alana swung the sword without another word.

It was like pulling off a Band-Aid; it was always better to get it over with.

Alana found Carrie Keene waiting for her on the other side of the Petersons’ backyard fence.

“Did you find them?” she asked.

Ah, Alana thought. So that’s why Carrie was talking so loud in the library. Alana was too tired to be surprised. “How long have you known?”

“About you? Since Lonnie Decker tried to pants you in seventh grade. Normal people can’t throw another human being ten feet through the air. I started watching you after that.”

Alana nodded. She’d acted on reflex and regretted it instantly. Everyone was so worried about Lonnie and if he’d be able to play in the upcoming city championship, she thought she’d gotten away with it. Clearly not.

“But about all this?” Carrie made a gesture that encompassed the Peterson house, the night, all of Middleton. “Let’s say that’s a work in progress.”

“What do you want from me?”

“Well. That’s going to take a little time to explain. Can we talk?”

Alana nodded. They began walking together.

Alana had learned that people in Middleton had a vested interest in a happy ending to every story, and they’d ignore almost any evidence that contradicted their vision of a perfect, peaceful, little town. She’d seen police officers look the other way, scuff over strange footprints, or lose evidence. She’d seen the county coroner label all kinds of wounds as “post-mortem animal damage” when corpses came in with chunks missing. People would believe only what they were prepared to believe, and they’d shut their eyes to anything else.

But Carrie was different. She wanted an answer. “Did you save them?”

Alana told her the truth. “Most of them.”

Some nights, that had to be enough.

There were no monsters waiting in the closets in Middleton. That’s the story everyone wanted. Alana was there to make sure of it.

21

The Slowest Person in the Room