There’s something weird about him, and Dawn realizes it’s that he’s not smiling his usual stupid smile, the one where it looks like he’s laughing at you for some reason and you have no idea what. The one where it looks like he believes you’re stupid and he’s better than you and you just haven’t figured it out yet.

(And maybe you never will.)

He’s not smiling. He’s just watching her, cold.

It’s unsettling.

“What are you doing?” he asks her again.

(It’s weird to see Brandon without Evan, too. Weird to think of him as a separate entity when he’s usually just one half of the clown posse, or at best Warden’s minion. It’s weird to see Brandon thinking for himself.)

(It’s scary to imagine what he might be thinking about.)

“I had to pee,” Dawn says, weakly. But there’s no point in pretending anymore; Brandon can see Alex’s body. “Alex is dead,” she says.

Brandon doesn’t react. He doesn’t react, and his nonreaction is scarier than anything else.

“That sucks,” he says.

“Yeah,” Dawn replies.

“No, I mean it sucks that you found him. That’s a real fucking trip.”

He looks at her for a long time. Finally, he squares his shoulders and seems to decide something.

But whatever it is, it’ll have to wait. Because it’s at that moment the rest of the Pack emerges from the forest.

Chapter 66

WARDEN LEADS the rest of the Pack into the clearing at the base of the cliff.

(Before anyone else in the Pack can see, and while Brandon’s turned away to greet Warden, Dawn kicks snow over Alex’s body.)

(She has her reasons.)

“What the hell’s going on?” Warden asks Brandon and Dawn. “We’re wasting time here, you guys. We need to keep moving.”

“She found Alex,” Brandon says before Dawn can say anything.

Dawn steps to one side, revealing what’s still visible of Alex’s body. “Yeah,” she says, “I did.”

Kyla gasps. Lucas swears. Brielle shakes her head and leans closer. Frowns as she studies the body.

“Holy shit,” Warden says. He rushes across the clearing to Dawn. Takes her hands. “Dawn, I’m so sorry.”

Why? Dawn thinks. I’m not dead.

Lucas rubs his face. Looks up the cliff wall. “I don’t get it,” he says. “How did he end up all the way down here?”

“He must have gotten lost,” Evan says. “He left early this morning. Probably he just went the wrong way and just tumbled.”

The rest of the Pack nods, and stares down at the body. It’s as good an explanation as anything they’re going to get.

Only Brandon doesn’t react. He doesn’t take his eyes away from Dawn.

(And Dawn’s getting a creepy feeling, and, reader, you know why she’s getting a creepy feeling.)