None of them slept well that night.

After Molly's visit, they argued for almost an hour about what to do, and finally settled for talking with the others about it tomorrow. He sent Bea and Angus texts, telling them that they had to come over tomorrow as soon as they could, it was an emergency meeting. Both of them seemed to understand and asked no questions.

They spent the rest of the night doing everything they could to make sure the place was locked down. They checked every window and made sure each was locked and secure, locked the front and back doors as best they could, and finally put out the fire and retreated to the bedroom. Trent tried to think of everything he could to be ready. All he ended up really thinking of was putting a kitchen knife and Mae's brass knuckles within reach, and ensuring that both his and Ann's phones were on the chargers, so that they'd be fully charged just in case they all had to run.

Finally, they tried to sleep. They didn't have sex, because all of them were too freaked out.

The night seemed to take forever to pass.

Trent kept waking up to sounds, real or imagined, every fifteen minutes it seemed. Or he awoke to Mae or Ann waking up or having nightmares. He had several himself. Mostly about people breaking into the house, and every time he woke up he would simply lay there in the darkness, perfectly still, listening as hard as he could.

The wind made it worse, howling and moaning at different parts of the night, the house creaking around them.

He kept thinking about that figurine, staring up at a spot on the ceiling, knowing that was where it had been, almost directly over his bed, where they slept.

It made him sick to think about.

At more than one point he was convinced he heard someone creeping up the stairs but it got so bad that he genuinely couldn't tell if he was asleep or awake, let alone hearing something or not. Finally, he had one bad nightmare that he was standing in some impossibly vast underground place. It was so huge that he couldn't see the walls or the ceiling, but somehow he was positive he was in a cave of some kind, impossibly ancient, the floor black rock beneath him, and above him, a great pair of huge, alien eyes glowed in the impenetrable darkness.

And then, without a sound, they began to grow in size, and he realized they were getting closer, and suddenly, the head of a massive black goat, covered in a writhing darkness, emerged, its huge maw open wide, bearing down on him like an unstoppable cosmic force.

When he opened his eyes from that one, sunshine was coming in through the window. Bleak and gray, but it was sunshine nonetheless. Morning had come. He was paralyzed with fear for several long minutes, but finally he made himself get up, the urge to piss terrible.

It was barely eight in the morning, and although he still felt exhausted, Trent made himself get up. Ann got up with him and the two of them silently went about their morning routine, sharing a shower together.

As he prepared, dressing, it occurred to Trent that, for better or for worse, he was truly in this.

It didn't bother him.

Well, that wasn't true, it bothered him plenty. But he didn't resent Mae for it. If anything, he felt more protective of her than ever. Her and Ann and Bea. All of them.

By the time he and Ann were up, Mae was still out. He wanted to wake her, but ultimately left her to sleep. Ann agreed to stay in the room with her so she wouldn't wake up alone. Trent went downstairs and checked everything, every window, both doors, looking outside in the snow. From what he could tell, no one had tried to get in or even approached the house last night, but with a dark old god involved, well…

Everything felt possible, no matter how ridiculous or unlikely or terrifying.

He made some scrambled eggs and bacon for breakfast, but he and Ann only picked at it. His stomach was too upset to each much, and she seemed in much the same boat.

It was barely after they'd finished that there was a knock at the door.

Trent's heart leaped into his throat and he grabbed another knife from the block on the counter before heading for the living room.

He relaxed immediately when he looked through the window in the door and saw Bea, Gregg, and Angus, all of them bundled up, looking worried.

Trent opened the door. They came in and saw the knife he was wielding.

Bea's eyes widened. "Oh God, did someone try to break in? What happened?"

"No, but it's more complicated than that...we need to deal with the cult," he replied. "Let me go wake up Mae, she's still sleeping."

"Fuck," Gregg whispered.

"Get comfortable," Trent said, closing and locking the door.

He headed upstairs.

"So what in the fuck are we actually supposed to do?" Bea asked. She was smoking from Ann's pipe. Gregg held out his hand after she took a puff and she passed it to him without comment.

"I'm not even sure," Mae muttered. She looked terrible. She'd eaten a little and smoked a lot while explaining everything to them.

"We need to investigate this address," Angus said.

"Yeah, get on Google Maps and check it," Bea agreed.

"Why didn't I think of that?" Trent muttered as he grabbed his laptop.

"Because we were tired and freaked out last night," Ann murmured.

"So Molly, like, knows?" Gregg asked.

"Kinda sorta?" Mae replied, shrugging. He passed her the pipe and she pulled on it. "There is something I want to do, though. We've been putting it off too long, and it needs to be done before we go any further."

"What?" Gregg asked.

"We have to make a decision about Casey," Mae said, and Gregg groaned, looking ashen. "And I think...we won't be able to actually come to a decision. Gregg, you and I need to deal with this. We knew him best by far."

"Who's driving?" he asked after a long moment.

"I'll do it," Trent said, "if you don't mind," he added, looking at Bea.

"I don't mind," she replied. "We can hold down the fort here while you three deal with it."

"Okay, thanks."

"We'll brainstorm on what to do," Angus murmured.

Mae looked regretfully at Ann. "Selma...I'm so sorry that I got you involved in this. If you want to go stay with your mother while we sort this out-"

"No," Ann said with a steel in her voice that made all of them stare at her. She looked angry. "I love you," she said, "all of you, you're my friends and I love you for what you've done for me and how you've treated me. And Trent, Mae, I'm well on my way to loving you romantically. I'm not giving that up. That's worth fighting for. I lost everything. Everything, except for my mom. I didn't fight for any of it. I didn't fight the divorce, I didn't fight the addiction, I didn't fight prison. The only time I did decide to fight, it was to kick the painkillers, and that was right. It was good. This is a good fight, a correct fight. I'm fighting for you, and for happiness, and for what's right."

"I love you, Selmers," Mae said, and hugged her.

"I love you too, Mae," Ann replied, hugging her tightly back.

"Well okay then," Bea murmured. "We'll figure out a plan of attack while you guys are gone."

"Okay, I found it," Trent said suddenly. "It's...kind of out there a ways. On the north side of town. Like a good few miles past city limit. It's...a warehouse? I think? Street view shows a some old metal building." He passed the laptop around and they all studied it.

"I'll see what I can dig up, if you don't mind giving me access to your laptop," Angus said.

"Go for it, dude," Trent replied, getting to his feet. He began pulling his shoes and coat on. "One more thing, Bea. You get me that ride yet?"

"Yes, actually," she replied. "I haggled with them for awhile and I saw the car. It's in good condition, and I made sure it was inspected so they weren't trying to sell you a clunker, but they actually weren't. I think they know, somehow, that your great-uncle was, if not in the cult, then a man of importance, and they're scared to fuck you over. They'll give you the car and the title if you give them a grand in cash."

"I can do it," he said. "And I can probably get it signed over to me pretty easily if they're still scared of me at the social administration building. We need to have two vehicles for this. One is too risky."

"Yeah," Bea murmured. "Shit...maybe we need to look into protection…"

"Gregg," Mae said suddenly, "you got both knives on you?"

"I've got all three," he replied.

She got up and walked over, raising her hand. "Gimme two." He complied immediately. "Thank you," Mae said, studying them both. Then she walked over to Trent and Gregg got up and did the same. Mae slapped a switchblade into Trent's hand. "For protection," she said.

Trent activated the blade, watching it pop out. It was in good condition, it looked sharp. He slipped it back and pocketed it. "Thank you."

"Yep," Gregg replied as he got his shoes and coat back on. "Fuck, I don't wanna face Casey's parents…"

"We have to. We need to put this to rest, one way or the other, before going forward," Mae said grimly.

"What are you going to tell them?" Ann asked.

"I don't know. I won't know until we get there and face them," Mae said. She finished pulling her coat on, took a deep breath and let it out, then looked at Trent. "We ready?"

"Yep," he said, already having gotten the key from Bea. "Lock this door behind me, call me if anything happens."

"Will do," Bea replied.

Angus stood up and came over. He wrapped Gregg in a big bear hug and murmured something to him. Gregg murmured something back, squeezing him tight.

"Be careful out there," Angus said as they released each other.

"You too, Angus. We have to be careful, all of us," Gregg replied. He faced Mae and Trent. "I'm ready to go."

"Let's do this," Trent said, and out they went.

Trent followed Gregg's instructions on how to get to Casey's place.

The atmosphere inside the vehicle was silent and heavy and miserable. Trent didn't know what to say, apparently neither did Mae or Gregg. His mind ran, turning over the situation again and again, trying to determine what was the best course of action. He kept coming back to that warehouse. They'd have to go there, it would have to be their first real destination, but it was probably going to be dangerous…

Trent had done some scrapping in high school.

He'd gotten beaten up in elementary school and middle school and some of high school. Near the end, he finally had someone, a boxer, take some pity on him, and taught him a few basics of how to throw a punch and do a little damage. He'd practiced enough that he'd finally held his own in a fight and left the jerkoff with a bloody nose and a loose tooth. There'd only been a few more fights after that, and then nothing for years.

He also at least knew the basics of handling a pistol.

How much help would it be?

It took awhile to get to Casey's parent's place. It turned out to be a trailer park on the outskirts of town. It was all covered in snow and Trent was glad that Bea's car handled pretty well and he had practice driving around snowbound cities.

"Okay, um...I hate to ask but...will you stay out here? This is just something Gregg and I have to do by ourselves," Mae asked.

"Yeah, sure. I'll be here," he replied.

"Thank you...I love you."

"I love you too, Mae. Good luck."

They shared a kiss and then she and Gregg got out of the car. They walked up to the front door and knocked. It opened quicker than he would've thought, and that hurt Trent. It could be nothing, but it was more than likely they were always listening for the door, for the phone now. And every time they answered, and it wasn't their missing son, it was a new hurt.

The two slowly walked inside and the door was shut behind them.

Trent wasn't sure how long he waited there in the car, playing with the radio, then his phone, thinking of Bea, smelling her presence in the car and missing her greatly. Though it had been only a week since their last encounter, it felt like a really long time. Finally, the door opened, and Mae and Gregg emerged from the trailer. They looked like they were putting on brave faces, and the literal second they were facing away from Casey's parents and towards him, he saw their brave faces collapse.

They got into the car, both of them in the back.

"Drive home, please, now," Mae said, her voice cracking.

Trent responded by doing just that, getting out of the trailer park and back onto the road, heading back home.

"What happened?" he asked quietly.

"I couldn't do it," Mae said. "They looked too...they-I could just tell. I read-I saw. They want to believe he's out there, living a good life. They were beginning to accept it, I saw it."

"We didn't tell them," Gregg said, sounding more depressed than he'd ever even thought possible for the vibrant, jubilant fox. "We couldn't. That was our decision. Fuck."

He started crying. Mae started up at almost the same time.

They hugged each other in the back and didn't let go, or stop crying, the entire way home.