"So, since we're getting into serious territory, there's something I feel like I need to say to you," Trent said, breaking the silence that had again fallen over them.

He and Bea were driving back, leading Gregg and Mae back into town, back home, to look over this list they had discovered. Trent was very tempted to pull it out and start looking over it, but forced himself to wait. It wouldn't be fair to the others, it was a thing that they should all do together, and it'd mean more to them since he was new to this town.

"What?" Bea asked nervously.

"I know you have problems with it, and I get it, but Mae made me promise something," he said, suddenly finding a great sympathy for her when she'd been trying to tell him that she was in love with him.

It was difficult to talk about stuff like this sometimes.

"What?" she repeated, a little more intensely. "Promise what?"

"I don't mean for it to sound weird or anything-"

"Just tell me," she said.

"I'm going to save you," he replied. "I promised Mae, she made me promise to save you, but even if she hadn't, I love you and I'm going to save you, Bea."

"What does that mean? What do you mean?" she asked.

"I don't care what it takes, but I'm getting you out of Possum Springs, and to college."

Neither of them spoke for what felt like a long time.

"Trent…" she said softly, gripping the steering wheel tightly, staring at the road, "I...I don't even know what to say...do you have any idea how much work-I mean...fuck."

"I don't care. I'm not letting you stay trapped at the Pickaxe."

"We'd have to find some way of getting my dad back to...I don't know, living. I can't just let him rot. I can't."

"Then I'll do whatever it takes to make that happen," Trent replied.

"How can you promise that?" she asked after another bout of silence, sounding stunned. "I just...it's-that's so much, Trent. We'd have to move out of Possum Springs, probably. Because I want," she sighed, "it's selfish but I want, like, the whole college experience. I mean, I'd be okay with living off-campus, dorm life sounds like shit, but I want to actually go…" She trailed off again, and then when they pulled up to a stop light, she lit up a cigarette and stared at him. "Trent, I can't even-I can't ask you to do that for me."

"Then don't." He looked at her, adamant. "I know you don't want to feel like a damsel or whatever, but you don't have to do it all alone, and I want to help you. Maybe it's shitty of me to say I'd be saving you but-"

"It wouldn't be shitty," Bea said. She sighed softly as the light turned green and they started driving again. "You would be saving me, Trent. In basically every way that matters. And of course I would take you up on it, if you can find some way of getting me out of here and into college and help my dad-Trent, I know we're dating and in love but it's-that's so much…"

"I don't care," he repeated. "If it's saving you, then I'm saving you. We'll get this mess with the cult figured out, and then we'll get our lives figured out. Whatever it takes."

She didn't say anything until they pulled into his driveway, and once the car was in park she pulled off her seatbelt, stuffed her cigarette into her ashtray, and threw herself at him. He hugged her tightly as she hugged him, squeezed him.

"I love you," she whispered.

"I love you, too, Bea. Whatever it takes, you, and Mae, and Ann, we're going to figure out some way to all live together and be happy and safe and fulfilled. Wherever that is, whatever it looks like, it's happening."

"You promise?" she asked, her voice so soft he almost couldn't hear her.

"I promise," he replied.

They both jumped as someone knocked on the window. Mae and Gregg were peering in, grinning fiercely. "Ha ha, wow lovebirds! Come on!" Mae called.

"Did that get you, like, horny?" Gregg asked.

Bea sighed heavily. "No, Gregg, it didn't get me horny," she said, getting off of Trent.

They both got out of the car. He needed to tell Mae, but he also thought it was something Ann should hear...would she be mad?

He didn't think so.

"Come on, let's go!" Mae said eagerly, heading for the front door.

"Mae, wait, there's something-" Bea said, but Trent shook his head. "What?" she asked.

"Inside." Bea looked at him, confused. "Ann," he said.

"Oh," she replied, nodding.

"What, what's going on?" Mae asked.

"Inside," Trent replied.

They all went inside and he was deeply relieved to see Ann and Angus waiting for them in the living room, both of them looking equally relieved.

"What's happening?" Ann asked.

"We found something. The motherload, I think," Mae replied.

"Wait, wait," Trent said, holding up his hands, "before we go forward with this, uh...there's been a, um...a development. Of the personal kind."

"Wait, what?" Mae asked, looking at him. She looked at him, and then at Bea, who was blushing now, and her eyes widened. "OH MY GOD DID ONE OF YOU SAY 'I LOVE YOU'!?" she cried, looking almost as excited as he'd ever seen her.

Bea laughed, then sighed, then groaned. "Yes, Mae! I said it, okay? And Trent said it back. We're, uh...we're-we've fallen in love." She cleared her throat, looking uncomfortable. She focused on Ann. "Is that, um...are you-is it okay? Are you okay with that?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Ann replied. "I knew it was going to happen."

"Really?" Trent asked.

"Yeah. I told you you're perfect for her, dude. I've seen the way you two are with each other. I know what it looks like when two people are falling in love."

"You're in love, yes! I knew it!" Mae yelled, jumping up and down.

"Wow, you were right, she is fucking ecstatic," Bea muttered.

"Say it! And kiss!" Mae demanded.

"Seriously?" Bea asked.

"Yes! Do it! I wanna see!"

Trent felt suddenly at once both awkward and vaguely aroused as he turned to face Bea, staring into her beautiful blue eyes. She smiled as she looked at him.

"I love you," she said.

"I love you too, Bea," he replied, and kissed her.

She moaned and kissed him back, hugging him tightly against her.

"YES!" Mae cried, and he heard the others laugh.

"Okay, okay," Bea said as they parted. "We gotta focus. Trent?"

"Yep, here," he replied, extracting the book from his inner pocket and passing it to her. He took off his coat and then sat down on the couch beside Ann.

"What is it?" Angus asked.

"A notebook we found. I think it's a list of all the members of the cult," Bea replied as she got down on her knees in front of the coffee table. "Gather round."

Gregg and Angus knelt down with her while Mae sat with him and Ann on the couch.

"Let's go through this list and see if we recognize anyone. We already got the Chief of Police's name on there, and I think we're all wondering if any of our family members are listed among them," Bea said.

"How do we know it's a complete list?" Angus asked. "Or even that it's the right list? What if it's a different list? Or a false list? It seems weirdly convenient that you found it there."

"Sometimes mistakes happen," Trent replied. "I mean, they have to be in disarray right now."

"Yeah," Bea said. "But for now, let's just scrub through. I'll start reading…"

The next ten minutes passed as she read it off name by name. And as each name was read aloud, slowly, bit by bit, any doubt that what they had on their hands was indeed a list of the cult members slipped away, until they were sure.

They recognized the Chief of Police.

Two members of the City Council.

A trio of wealthy business owners in the area, one of whom was long dead, and whose name was checked off.

"Wait, Marty Meeks? Why does that name sound familiar?" Gregg said.

"It does," Bea muttered.

"I know," Angus said, looking worried, "he owns the local Ham Panther."

"Oh great," Mae muttered. "My fucking dad works there."

"Next up is-ew," Bea said, wincing.

"What?" Mae asked.

"Hamilton Scriggins."

"Steve's father," Angus murmured.

"Ugh, goddamnit, Gregg! I told you! I told you he was a piece of shit!" Mae growled.

"Maybe he doesn't know, maybe it's just his dad…" Gregg replied, looking uncomfortable.

"No! I didn't get a chance to tell you, but Lori told me that he still goes to high school parties and hits on her classmates! She's fourteen!"

"Ew, God," Angus muttered.

"Yeah, Jesus, gross," Ann said.

"I haven't seen him since you and I last saw him," Gregg replied, now looking guilty. "But yeah, okay, you were right. He's just...a piece of shit. I didn't know that about him. He just liked to do crimes...but yeah."

"It's...fine," Mae said, relaxing. "Sorry. I just-he's so creepy and mean."

"Okay, okay, we have to keep focusing," Bea said.

She finished out the list. To all of their tremendous relief, there were no names that they recognized as family or close family friends. Except for Trent's great-uncle. But he was already dead, so it didn't matter too much.

"So...now what?" Mae muttered.

"We need to go to the church," Trent said, and they all looked at him, "we need your mom's help."

"Why my mom? We can't drag her into this…"

"We need to know who's dead, and I'm willing to bet the church has access to the list of the dead buried in the cemetery, and your mom has access to that. I mean, I think…"

"She probably does, or at least knows how to make it happen," Mae admitted reluctantly.

"Well okay then, that's our next step," Bea said, getting back to her feet and snapping the booklet shut. She handed it to Trent as he stood as well.

"Who goes this time?" Gregg asked.

Trent walked over and started pulling on his coat, but noticed no one was speaking up. He glanced over and felt a wave of unease as he realized they were all looking at him. "...what?"

"I mean, you're kind of leading the charge on this," Bea replied.

"What? No I am most certainly not. This is Mae's fight," he said. "I mean, it's all our fight, but-"

"Dude, no," Mae replied, cutting him off. "I'm not in charge. The last time around...I made shit decisions, and I'll try my hardest to make less shitty ones, but like...I'm not leadership material. I can admit that."

"It sure ain't me," Gregg said.

"Nope," Ann said when he glanced at her.

"I'm not up to it," Angus said when Trent looked at him.

He looked at Bea. She shifted uncomfortably, crossing her arms. "If you really, really don't want to be in charge of this, I'll do it. But honestly dude...I think you're best suited for this. You came up with that idea pretty fast. And you're handling all this stuff really well."

Trent looked at them all, feeling utterly dislocated, confused, frightened. Should he step up? He thought about what he'd said to Bea earlier, about fighting for her, for Mae, for Ann. For what they had. About what he was willing to risk.

Abruptly, he nodded and double-checked the journal was secured in his inner pocket, then zipped up his jacket. "Okay," he said, "Mae, you're sure your mom is at the church?"

Mae closed her eyes for a second, thinking and muttering to herself, then nodded, opening them back up. "Yeah, today is her workday and it's late enough that she's gone in already."

"Perfect. Mae and Bea will come with me. Is everyone else cool to stay here and guard the place?" he asked.

"Yes," Gregg said.

"I'm good," Ann replied, and Angus nodded.

"All right, cool. We'll be in touch. And-" He paused, looked around. "Anyone got a pencil?"

"Yeah, hold on, I saw one...there," Mae said, dropping down and pulling a pencil off the coffee table's lower level. She passed it to him. "What's that for?"

"Show you in a bit," he replied. "Come on."

"Who's got better handwriting?" Trent asked as he pulled out of the driveway and began driving into the city, towards the church.

"I do," Bea said.

"Yeah, probably," Mae replied.

"No probably about it, I've seen your handwriting Mae, good lord."

"Ugh, whatever! You're lucky you're in love." She paused, then broke into a big, starry-eyed smile. "You're in love! My boyfriend and my best friend are in love! It's like a romantic movie! But not a stupid one."

"Uh, yeah. I was gonna say, in basically all romance movies and books, this scenario is a fucking nightmare for everyone involved," Bea replied.

"But it's so sweet! I've wanted you to find like an amazing guy forever, Bea! Someone who'd be super nice to you and take care of you and give you awesome dick and love you and now here he is! Tried and tested by me!"

"Mae…" Bea began, then hesitated for a long time, then sighed. "You know what? Yeah. You're right. I'm just going to accept that. I never thought I'd live in a fucking fantasy world where Mae was right about relationship advice, where she was so right and I was so wrong, but fuck it. I'm here. I can accept that. I love you, Trent, and I love you, Mae, in different ways, but with such intensity. And it's wonderful. But-" She looked out the window suddenly.

"But?" Trent asked.

"I just…" She sighed, looking very annoyed.

"Come on, Bea," Mae said, grinning broadly at her from the backseat, leaning forward.

Bea let out a huff. "I just...it's really annoying. I am attracted to you, Trent, for many reasons. And I agree with myself on most of them. You're smart, and cute, and creative, and so kind and patient and loving. But…"

"Come on, spit it out," Mae said.

Bea let out a growl. "It's so fucking irritating that I'm actually turned on by you like...taking control of the situation and making decisions. I'm not saying you're acting like one of those shitheads who unironically identify as an 'alpha male', but it's the kind of thing they pride themselves on. Being 'leaders' who 'take control and get things done'. Don't get me wrong, I like that you are doing it, and you're doing well so far, I'm just angry that apparently it's something I'm attracted to."

"Why?" he asked.

"What? What the hell do you mean why? Because I fucking hate 'alphas'. I fucking hate fake tough guys who are loud and obnoxious and mean. Guys who think they're just so hardcore. Like that fucking dickhead Chris."

"Yeah but I'm not like that," he replied.

"I know, but it's-the qualities are similar, do you see what I'm saying?"

"I see what you are trying to say, but I am saying that you're wrong, Bea."

She pursed her lips, staring at him, crossing her arms. "Explain."

Mae giggled. "Uh-oh. You told Bea she's wrong. You just push the go button on the whup-ass machine!"

"Oh shut up," Bea hissed at her.

"What I'm saying is that it's not unreasonable to be attracted to people who show leadership skills. You can absolutely be decisive and confident without being an asshole 'alpha male' or whatever. They aren't interconnected, Bea. I mean you, yourself, acknowledge that. Being attracted to confidence is not the same as being attracted to arrogance, okay?"

She kept staring at him in smoldering silence, then slowly relaxed. "Okay...okay, yeah. That makes sense. I was wrong," she murmured.

"Holy mother of God," Mae whispered, "I don't think I've ever seen you admit you're wrong. Trent, you are The One."

Trent laughed. "Does that make Bea Trinity?" he asked.

"Oh my fucking God yes. Trinity is so super fucking hot," Mae replied.

"So who're you?" Bea asked.

"Uh...I guess that white-haired chick?"

"Was her hair white? I thought it was more pale blonde," Trent said. "She was fucking hot, though. What was her fucking name…"

"Switch," Bea said.

Mae laughed. "Perfect."

"Wait, why's that perfect?"

"I'm bi? I mean I'm pan, but whatever, it fits."

"I thought switch applied to being able to switch between dom and sub roles," Trent said.

"I am not up to par on sex stuff," Bea muttered. "Just-okay, we should focus. We're almost to the church."

Trent felt guilt coming on, because he had already decided something that he knew Mae was not going to like. In fact, she was going to hate it. But Candy had made him promise that if Mae was ever in trouble, real trouble, no matter what it was, to come to her. And this was real trouble. And he intended to keep that promise.

"Mae...does your mom know about the cult?" he asked.

"No," Mae replied firmly. "And I'd like it to stay that way."

"That may not be an option. Your mom is smarter than you think, and she deserves to know."

Mae groaned loudly and hid her face behind her hands, but otherwise said nothing. Well, it was better than an argument.

"What did you need the pencil for?" Bea asked as they pulled into the parking lot.

"While we're in there, I want you to start making a copy of the list on another page. That list is our only copy and I don't want us to start marking it up and fucking with it," he said.

"Oh...good idea," Bea replied.

"Keep an eye out," Mae murmured.

"Yep," Trent agreed.

They got out and walked across the parking lot. A cold wind gusted and all around them trees danced and swayed like resurrected skeletons. The only other car he saw in the lot was Mae's mom's car. Good. The graveyard was just beyond sight, around the edge of the church. Waiting for them, ominous and foreboding.

This was a gamble, Candy might hedge. She might outright refuse to help them.

Only one way to find out.

They approached the front entrance and pushed their way inside. Trent felt a vague unease settle over him as he stepped into a light turquoise lobby. Gray sunlight streamed in through a window. There was no one around, though he could hear someone typing not too far away. Besides the one time they'd visited Mae's mom, Trent hadn't been inside of a church for years. Probably over a decade. His grandma had been religious and had dragged him along to church for awhile, but eventually that had stopped.

"Come on," he murmured, wondering exactly how they were going to go about this.

He felt so out of his depth. They walked through the door at the back, passing through another, mostly empty room, and passed through another door that led to the front desk, where Candy sat behind it, reading a book.

"Hello, Mae. Trent. Bea," she said, smiling at them and setting the book aside.

"Hey, mom," Mae said.

"Mrs. Borowski," Bea replied uncomfortably, and Trent just nodded at her, still wondering how the hell he was going to word this.

Was it illegal? Or against the rules?

She lost her smile as she studied them. "What's wrong? What happened?" she asked, her tone flattening out, becoming more serious.

"Uh...we need your help," Trent replied. He cleared his throat.

"With? Mae, are you in trouble?"

Mae opened her mouth, then closed it, looking away. "Mae?" she asked, more sternly.

"We need access to the list of everyone buried in the graveyard," Trent said.

Candy seemed to briefly become utterly confused, which seemed to derail the motherly fervor she'd been working up to.

"...you do? Why?" she asked.

"It's...complicated," Trent replied.

"You'll have to do a lot better than that, young man," she said.

"Please, Mrs. Borowski?" Bea asked. "It's-it's important."

"Is anyone else here?" Trent asked.

"No," Candy replied after hesitating for a moment. "No one's here. Pastor Kate is out doing...I don't really know what. And there's no one else around. Tell me the truth: are you in trouble?"

Trent glanced at Mae, who looked at him beseechingly. He sighed softly, returning his gaze to Candy. "Yes," he said simply.

Mae sighed heavily, crossing her arms, and said nothing.

"What kind of trouble?" she asked. No one said anything. She grew a bit more stern, then seemed to switch tactics. "Mae...do you still trust me?"

Now they were staring at each other intently. "...yeah, I still trust you, mom. It's not-it isn't a matter of trust. It's a matter of I don't want you getting involved. It's...dangerous."

"Margaret Borowski, I would move mountains and bury bodies for you," Candy said, leaning forward. "If you're in trouble, I want to know what it is. I demand to know what it is."

"Okay, okay, I'll tell you...on two conditions," Mae said.

"Mae-" Candy began, and Trent could tell she was going to press the issue, and accept no conditions. He stepped in.

"Mrs. Borowski...you told me once that you trust me. More than once. And I know you trust Bea. And you must trust Mae, on some level...please help us, and please listen to Mae," he said. "It's...this is very important."

"Mmm...fine," she said, relaxing. "What are the conditions, Mae?"

"How do you do that? I can never get her to back down from like anything!" Mae whispered, looking astonished.

"Mae, focus," Trent replied.

"Right, right...okay, first condition: we'll tell you later. Over dinner. Tonight. Second condition, don't tell anyone else. Anyone. Okay?"

"I don't keep secrets from your father, Mae," Candy replied firmly.

She sighed. "Fine, I guess he'll be there anyway."

A moment of tension began to swell, and then finally Candy relaxed. "Fine. I will give you access to the list. Come here, but if anyone comes in, you get out from behind the desk. I could get into some trouble."

"We'll be cool," Mae said.

"What do you say, Mae?" Bea asked as they crowed behind the large desk with her.

Mae heaved a sigh. "Thanks, mom...for real. Thank you."

"You're welcome, sweetheart...are you in any danger?"

"...possibly," Mae murmured.

Candy sighed. "Mae, I wish you'd tell me."

"I will, I promise. Tonight. After work. Just...it's really, really big. Like super big. And scary."

"Does this have anything to do with that day we found you out in the woods? And then you wandered off? I always got the impression that you weren't telling me the whole story…"

"Yeah," Mae admitted.

She sighed heavily. "Mae!"

"I'm sorry! It's scary!"

"Oh lord...come here, honey," Candy said, standing up. Mae stepped up to her tentatively and Candy hugged her. "It's going to be all right, sweetheart. Whatever it is, you're strong, and you have friends who love you, and a boy who takes good care of you, and you'll always have me and your father. Whatever the problem is, you know I'll help you."

"Thanks, mom," she murmured, hugging her back.

"How do I, uh…" Trent asked after a moment.

"Oh, right. Here." She let go of Mae and typed something into the keyboard. "This new app I've finally gotten the hang of has access to just about everything. It's a real fancy database. Here's the catalog of everyone buried at the cemetery. Just type in the name you want there."

"Perfect, thank you," Trent replied, setting the notebook down and opening it up. He typed in the first name and came up with a hit immediately. "Okay, first guy is dead. Back in nineteen ninety nine. Second guy is dead...third...fourth...I guess that's what the Xs mean...Here Bea, start copying them down, and then crossing off all who are confirmed dead."

She rolled up a second chair beside him. "On it."

And that was how they spent the next half an hour. She'd write down a name and he'd check it. All of the names that had been x'ed were confirmed dead. There were a total of thirty one names on the list. Thirteen of them were already dead, the most recent death from three years ago. After that, another ten were listed as among the deceased.

"I recognize some of these names, several of them," Candy said after they were finished. "What...is this about? What's it for? And why was everyone who was brought in recently during the accident, including your great-uncle, Trent, on the list?"

Trent sighed. "It's...a long story," he replied awkwardly.

"Tonight, mom," Mae said.

"How did these other two die, the ones who were the most recent and weren't brought in with the others?" Trent asked.

"Oh, well, one was a suicide. Old Mortimer shot himself in the head," Candy replied. "And Nick, there...I asked Molly about it. She was evasive but she said there's suspect of foul play. His car went into the river and he drowned. I'm willing to bet it was something like his brakes were cut. Think about that! A murder in Possum Springs…"

They all shared an uncomfortable look.

"How many are left?" Mae asked.

"Eight," Trent replied. "Eight are left. Baxter, the two council members, the guy who owns the Ham Panther, those two other businessmen, Scriggin's dad, and someone else we didn't know."

"Mom, do you know someone named Lyle Becket?" Mae asked.

"Yes, he runs Becket's Construction," she replied.

Bea sighed. "Knew I recognized that name," she muttered.

"So, Mrs. Borowski, these are all like...for sure? Confirmed? Like, there's no error or anything? These guys are for sure dead and buried out there?" Trent asked.

"Yes, I'd say so," she replied. "I mean I wasn't here for the older ones, but the most recent? Yes, I was here for them. I'm pretty confident...why would they not be?"

"Just wanted to be sure," Trent replied. He replaced the ledger in his inner pocket and stood. "Okay, uh...thanks for this. It really, really helped. We'll see you at your place for dinner tonight. Just, uh...text me when you're ready."

"I will," Candy replied, looking at the three of them closely as they came out from behind the desk. "Does this have anything to do with Molly getting suspended? Are those people dangerous? I saw the Police Chief's name on there…"

"Yes, they are, and yes, it does," Trent replied, "but please, please don't tell anyone about this? Okay? Please? It's really, really important."

"I won't tell anyone," she said, "I never trusted that man, anyway. Or his wife. Or the jerk who runs the Ham Panther...or Becket. Or Scriggins." She looked like she wanted desperately to ask more questions, but said no more as she retook her seat. "Seven PM," she said, "and don't keep me waiting. I expect a prompt and full explanation."

"We will, mom...thanks...I love you," Mae mumbled.

"I love you too, Mae. Now go, and...be safe. Whatever it is you're doing."

"We will," Trent promised.