Eric takes the water and whips it into a thunderstorm. Which is a neat trick, considering they’re indoors. There is suddenly too much weather for the confined space. Sixty, seventy mile-per-hour winds blast through the Creek, water lashing everyone like a high-pressure hose. Lonnie gets thrown back by a tidal wave. The rest of the crowd is soaked like they’re standing in a hurricane while the fire alarm whoops. People are knocked to the ground, gasping for air.

That’s enough, Eric thinks, even though it’s not. There’s a part of him that wants to keep pushing, wants to keep pelting them all, slamming them against the walls and tables and chairs until they’re battered to pieces —

Enough, he thinks again, and the storm kicks once before it complies. The howling wind dies down, enough that people can see again, and move. People wash out the front door as it opens. Drenched, they retreat, crowding out into the parking lot. Nobody’s even looking at the four of them anymore.

Except Buzz.

Buzz stands very still, staring at them. His hair is plastered to his skull, his perfect suit is soaking wet, and he doesn’t appear to care at all.

Danny grabs Eric’s shoulder again, and pulls him toward the exit with the others.

12

You Don’t Have to Go Home but You Can’t Stay Here

Outside, they watch their classmates stomp to their cars, dripping wet. A few of them glare. Lonnie flips them off, then slams the door of his SUV before he revs the engine and peels away.

A moment later, they are alone in the parking lot again. Eric looks at Danny and Alana and Carrie.

“I have a question,” he says. “Are we absolutely sure we want to save these people?”

“Not funny, Eric,” Carrie says.

“I’m not joking. We know how grateful they were last time. I’ve never gotten anything but pain from doing this. Can any of you tell me why we should keep slamming our heads into the same brick wall?”

“Because it’s what we do,” Alana says. “It’s what we’ve always done.”

“And what happens if we don’t? What happens if we just walk away this time?”

They all stare at him. Judging him. He can feel it.

“You can’t be serious,” Carrie says. “That wasn’t them. It was him. You saw how they reacted in there. He’s back. He’s tugging at all of us, he’s pushing us — ”

“And I don’t care,” Eric shouts. He has been back for less than a day, and he is so fucking sick of this place already. “Here’s the big secret answer to all the mysteries of Middleton, Carrie: they like it this way. They let this happen. Over and over. You know that.”

“That’s not true — ” Carrie says.