Emerson glanced out the window, looking to see if her mother was coming yet. Grace had said that she needed to stop and talk with someone. She hadn't said what it might be about or who she needed to talk to and had asked Emerson to sit in the car and wait. Of course that didn't go over well and while Emerson had started out sulking about it, she was starting to feel pretty useless sitting in the car when they should be out doing something.

They thought they knew where this 'something' in town was hiding out and had started to make plans to check it out. Emerson wondered if maybe Grace knew more about what was going on than she was letting on actually. It just seemed like her mother wasn't telling her everything. Everything from her mother came in clipped tones and it was all brief and rather secretive. Emerson felt on edge just thinking about it and the only thing that seemed to calm her down was the thought of hearing Sam's voice.

She glanced around at the people walking by and then started to feel around for her cell phone. She'd caught a few looks from some of her neighbors but brushed them off. More and more the townspeople seemed to look at Emerson like she was the cause of all their troubles and if she went away, the trouble would go with her. There were times it made her want to just walk away and never look back but she knew that if she did that, she'd spend the rest of her life wondering how she could have helped or if she could have helped at all. The last thing she wanted was that on her conscience so Emerson was going to continue to do what she could to help. She was just going to go about it her way and not in any way that anyone in town might truly understand.

She eyed her phone, scrolling through her contact list for a bit although she knew who she wanted to call. Emerson sighed and had her finger poised to speed dial Sam although she hesitated for a bit. She needed to talk to him, needed to sort things out. Somehow when she talked to him, Emerson felt like she really could sort things out. Just telling him what she was going through and what she was thinking about seemed to help and right now Emerson felt like she could use a little help.

She jumped when she heard someone hit the passenger side window. Startled by the sound, Emerson gave her mother a dirty look as Grace made her way around the front of the car to the driver's side. Emerson stared at her phone for a moment, even as her mother got into the car. She could easily call Sam even if Grace was in the car and seemed to think it was a good idea right now.

Grace reached for Emerson's phone, ready to turn it off for her daughter. "No calls. We have a job to do," she said after Emerson had pulled the phone back so Grace couldn't reach it. It was that same clipped tone, that same lack of information.

Emerson rolled her eyes and turned off her phone. She figured that she could always call Sam later. There was a lot to talk about and sort through and if she could talk to Sam, Emerson felt like it would be a good thing. With a sigh, she stuffed her cell phone into her jacket pocket with a sigh. "What was that all about?"

Grace started the car, looking straight ahead as she did so. There was no smile, not even some kind of a smirk. "There's no time to talk," she said with a little shake of her head. She meant for this to be final, for that to be the end of the conversation between them on the subject.

"I'm not a child, mother. You can let me in on this, you know," Emerson said, her voice trembling a little bit. She had her teeth gritted as she spoke and she was trying to remain calm but her voice still trembled with the frustration that she felt right now. "We're supposed to be working together on this, remember?"

Grace almost rolled her eyes and shook her head. She didn't say anything though, just kept staring straight ahead. She drove in silence towards the old church in town. She seemed to be actively ignoring her daughter at the moment, as if that was somehow 'helpful'.

"So this thing? It's supposed to be under the church, right?" Emerson said, continuing to talk whether her mother liked it or not. If her mother wouldn't say anything, Emerson would talk it out on her own. "Why would it be there? And once we find it, how are we going to get rid of it?"

Grace sighed loudly and glanced over at Emerson for a moment when they'd reached a stop sign. As she exhaled, her shoulders seemed to slump and she nodded. "All signs point to it being underground and from some old maps, there's a room under the old church. There's a good chance that's where it is. From what I've been able to find out, that's where it would be hiding. I'm not sure how we'll stop it but we'll figure it out when we get there."

Emerson folded her arms across her chest and frowned. She closed her eyes for a moment and sighed. "You really want to burst in there without a plan?"

"We'll figure it out," Grace said with a little nod. There was another glance over to her daughter. "I promise. Just … trust me for a change."

Emerson nodded, not looking at her mother. As much as she hated the idea, she didn't have much choice. If they wanted to get through this, they were going to have to trust each other. She just wasn't sure how much her mother trusted her at this point.

A/N: To those of you actually reading, I say thank you. I know it's not like the first two stories. Possibly isn't even as 'fun' as they were but I hope it's worth the read anyway. I'm hoping that the next story will be better and can tie in this story as well as the others in a way that makes this all feel satisfying to the reader. I hope someone is enjoying this or else I'm not sure why I'm still writing this.