The adults in Middleton could not solve this problem. They couldn’t comprehend it. They were locked into the wrong way of seeing the world. To them, Middleton was a town where nothing ever happened. That’s all it could be. Even though weird shit happened here all the time.

Carrie rejoined Danny and Alana and Eric, who stood apart from the cops, waiting to be dismissed. They watched the ambulance carry Fay off to the hospital.

“It’s all fun and games until someone loses an eye,” Alana said.

Carrie and Danny stared at her. Eric guffawed, with a guilty look.

“Okay,” Danny told them, quietly. “I’m in. What’s next?”

“On New Year’s Eve, Colchester is going to come out from his home. He’ll be vulnerable for the first time in a century,” Eric said.

“Then what do we do?”

Eric and Alana looked at him like he was an idiot. Even Carrie seemed embarrassed.

“Then we kill him,” Eric said.

“Duh,” Alana added.

23

You Breathed It In, All the Time

Danny wakes up in a great deal of pain. He used to be better at taking a blow to the head. First, he realizes that’s definitely an orbital fracture on the left side of his face, and one of his molars feels loose in his jaw.

Next, he notices he’s bound to a chair in a big, industrial space, with zip ties at his wrists and ankles, and what feels like duct-tape around his chest. Again, this is not an entirely new experience for him, but it’s been a while.

Then, of course, there are all the naked people on the floor.

There are at least two dozen men and women writhing around in front of him in some kind of mass orgy. The light is mercifully dim, but Danny sees plenty of his former classmates in the pileup. There is moaning and heavy bass music playing from hidden speakers.

“Wakey-wakey, eggs and bakey, Danny,” Buzz says.

Buzz steps in front of Danny, wearing a robe that, unfortunately, is not tied tightly enough to conceal the fact that he’s naked underneath it, too.

“Buzz,” Danny says. He looks around the big, dark space. It’s familiar. “You’re looking fit.”

“I keep telling you: it’s Robert now.” He pats his own stomach under the robes. “Yeah, well, all this” — he gestures at the orgy behind him — “keeps me going to the gym. It’s also why Middleton’s only plastic surgeon is booked for a year in advance.” He smacks Danny on the thigh. “You’re looking good too. You must finally be working out.”

“I’ve got a trainer. We do weights, a little Krav Maga.”