Tritia looked at her son. He was mature for his age, intelligent, strong, but he had been forced to absorb far too much the past two months, had been expected to deal with things that most adults never had to deal with. She felt a strange sadness settle over her as she looked at his weary face. She had always wanted Billy to remain a child as long as possible and not grow up too fast. Childhood was a magical special time and could only be experienced once. Yet at the same time, she did not believe in sheltering children from reality. Like it or not, they eventually had to live in the real world, and they could adjust to that world better if they were adequately prepared to deal with it.

This summer, however, had not been the real world. The horrific events of the past two months would not prepare Billy for things to come. Nothing like this would ever come again.

She stared at him, saw the pleading in his tired eyes. Her tone of voice softened. “Okay,” she said. “You don’t have to go.”

Billy smiled, relieved, although there seemed to be something else in his eyes, something lurking just beyond the obvious emotions mirrored in his face. This had probably scarred him more than she would ever know. “Thanks,” he said.

“But,” she warned, “you have to stay in the house. Keep all the doors locked and don’t let anyone inside until we get back. Understand?”

He nodded.

“Okay.” She looked over at Doug and saw his slight smile of approval. It never hurt to be careful.

Billy got dressed and stood on the porch as his parents got in the car and backed up the drive. “Lock the door,” his dad called.

“I will.”

He went back into the house and locked the door. His eyes were drawn to the piece of plyboard still covering the broken window. He hoped the guy was going to come and fix the window soon. The board helped television viewing in the afternoon, virtually eliminating the glare from the sun, but it also made the house seem far too dark.

He didn’t like darkness.

He wasn’t sure what he was going to do today after his parents got back. He thought of calling the twins, but then decided he really didn’t want to see them. What he really wanted was to do something with Lane, but he was afraid to call his old friend. With the mailman gone and everything over, Lane might be back to normal. But then again, he might not, and Billy wasn’t brave enough to find out.

Right now, he had to go to the bathroom, and he walked through the kitchen to the hall. He went into the bathroom, already unbuckling his belt. He froze.

An envelope was perched on the edge of the sink.

Another lay atop the closed lid of the toilet.