After saying their goodbyes, Jacob walked them back out, and they drove back.
They picked up Ann, and just managed to get back in time for dinner with Mae's parents. They quickly updated the others on the positive development with Germ's family, and then Trent and Mae hurried over across their backyards to Mae's mom's place.
She was making tacos, and Mae refused to say anything until they'd actually eaten.
The tacos were fantastic. The conversation was less so.
Trent listened to Mae spin the tale once more. He was still ruminating over her mind-reading capabilities. They'd tried again on the way home, but Mae couldn't read his thoughts. It worried him on a number of levels.
Trent carefully watched Candy and Stan as Mae told them everything. They went from skeptical, to worried, to upset, to angry, and then finally to a bit shell-shocked.
"Do you believe me?" Mae asked after she'd spilled the whole thing. She looked exhausted.
"I buy it," Stan said.
Mae blinked. "Really, dad? I thought you'd have trouble with it."
"Something's always been funny about Possum Springs...all the people disappearing over the years. The weird stories. I don't know, it just fits. I buy it." He shrugged.
"Huh. Mom?"
Candy sighed heavily, massaging her temples. "I've never known you to lie, Mae. Not about anything serious. You avoid the truth, dodge questions, sometimes you lie by omission, and sometimes you tell little lies, but I don't believe you've lied about something huge before. And I don't believe you're lying to me now. I believe that you believe what you are saying. And...yes," she opened her eyes suddenly, "I believe you. There's too many puzzle pieces painting too clear of a picture."
"I want to get Molly involved," Stan said.
"Ugh, no…" Mae groaned.
"Kitten, she's a cop. A good cop. Both in skill, and in morality. I know you have troubles with her, though I've never really figured out why, but she is a good person," Stan said with a patience that he'd clearly developed with Mae as his daughter and Candy as his wife.
"I know, dad," Mae said, "I just...she gets on my nerves." She muttered something under her breath, then sighed. "You're probably right. But not yet! Okay? Not yet. Just...we need to figure out a plan first."
"Then let's do that," Candy replied.
"For that, we need the others. They're...involved in this. It's their fight as much as it is mine," Mae said. "And they're all over at our place, so…"
"Okay," Candy said, getting up. "We can clean up later. Come on, Stan."
Trent felt like he was in a dream more than ever as he sat in his crowded living room.
Having Mae's parents there made it very strange, but the fact that they were openly discussing this, after everything else that happened…
It was so fucking weird.
At this point, he was kind of just going with the flow.
"So, we're all up to speed," Candy said. "We know about the cult. We know about the mine. We know about the Black Goat. We're with Mae. It has to be stopped. But how do we do that?"
"We have a few ideas, a few goals that need to be accomplished," Trent said. "The first thing is: we need hard evidence against the cult, everyone in it. Good chance we might have to get some really heavy hitters involved, like the FBI. But Molly can handle that. But I don't want to bring her in until we have something really definitive. The second thing is: we need to find and destroy all of the totems. All of them. Best guess is, everyone in the cult had one...ah, fuck," Trent muttered.
"What?" Mae asked.
"How much do you want to bet that they were buried with them?"
"Oh...that's a good idea, actually," she replied quietly.
"I mean, it would make things a hell of a lot easier, as they'd all be in one place, but we'd also have to dig up a lot of graves," Trent said.
"Fantastic," Candy muttered.
"But that's besides the point, for now. We can tackle both of these goals simultaneously by breaking into the living member's houses and searching," Trent said.
"I can help," Mae said. They all looked at her. "It's weird, but it's like...I think I can feel where they're at. The totems. Like, if I'm in the same house. I didn't really feel that first one, but now that I touched it, like...I don't know. Call it a hunch. I think if you got me into a house that has one, I can feel them."
"This is getting real...magical," Stan said uncomfortably.
"It's an old god, dear, it's going to get magical and weird," Candy replied, patting his leg.
"It's just, it feels like...this all is a lot to take in."
"You should've read that Stephen King I gave you, sweetheart. Now, let's focus. What's the actual plan? What can we do to help?"
"So you're really onboard with this?" Bea asked. "Like, don't get me wrong, I so appreciate your help, Mrs. Borowski, it's just...you just buy this?"
"I do," she replied. "I believe Mae. I believe Trent. I want to help. And if you don't have an idea, I do, on how we can begin."
"I've got something an idea," Trent said. "But I'd like to hear yours."
"Maude Becket. Mr. Becket's wife. I know her. We went to high school together, and we reconnected over Facebook a few months ago. For some reason, I have no idea why, she remembers me fondly. She wants to talk. I can get her out of the house. As far as I know, it's just her and her husband there. I can ask a few more questions, but if I can get her out of the house, Mae and someone else can break in and find this totem. And maybe some evidence."
"Yes! This can be like a test run," Mae said suddenly, perking up at the idea. "I think I need to fine-tune my whole 'sensing' thing for the totem. I wish we had one to test on…"
"Maybe we should go up to the cemetery," Gregg suggested. "If they're buried with them?"
"That would require digging up a grave to prove," Mae said.
"Which we aren't yet ready to commit to," Candy added, a little sternly as she looked at Mae, who seemed particularly pleased at the idea.
"Yet," Mae replied with a sly smirk. Candy sighed. "Oh come on, mom! I know you wanna dig up some dead bodies."
"Of course I do," Candy replied, "but we can't just do that willy-nilly."
"Yeah, all right. So we doing this tomorrow?"
"Yes, tomorrow. I'm off work. I'll send her a message tonight and see if I can make it happen...hmm."
"What?" Stan asked.
"I guess, I never really understood why she was so eager to spend time with me, but now I wonder, does it have to do with this cult? Will they target us? For being Mae's parents?"
"They need me," Mae said, then frowned and looked away, as if something had suddenly occurred to her.
"Yes, to lead. Because you hear their Black Goat...but they don't need us," Candy said.
"They seemed reluctant to kill anyone who was a 'provider' for the town," Bea said. "Although I'm not sure how far they would've gone. And the guy we spoke to seemed to be their leader. I wish I recognized him, knew who he was, but it's too late for that now. Unless he crawled out of there, but that seems unlikely. I don't know, they'll be in disarray, but they've had weeks now. We can't overlook the idea that they may be recruiting…"
"We all need to be wary," Trent said. "If I were writing this as a story, I'd probably have them threaten or injure one of us, as a point being made to Mae. We'll be a lot less likely to get hurt if we're all on edge. If you've got weapons, keep them on you."
"I have a conceal carry permit and a twenty two that I carry in my purse," Candy replied.
"Holy shit, you do?" Mae asked.
"Language," Candy said.
"I'm twenty, mom."
"I suppose you are...and yes. I was mugged once, on the way back from the church. It happened while you were away at college. I didn't tell you because I didn't want to worry you. I hit him over the head with my purse and he ran away. He was just some stupid kid. I was fine. But it occurred to me that next time it might not be some stupid kid, so I went through the process of getting a gun."
"That's awesome, mom. Dad?"
"I've got a switchblade and a good right hook," Stan replied, grinning. "I used to box, if you'll remember."
"Oh yeah...totally forgot about that."
"If that's the plan of attack, we should be getting some sleep. You especially, Mae."
"Yeah...I'll want a lot of sleep for this. Ugh, should probably do it soon." Candy and Stan got to their feet, as did Mae. She walked over at hugged both of them. "Please be careful. Double-check that all the doors and windows are locked, and get that pistol ready. Like, in case someone breaks into the house or something."
"I really should say something to my dad…" Bea muttered.
"Is he still awake?" Stan asked.
"I don't even know."
"It's not terribly late. I think I can swing by and have a talk with him. I got the impression that things haven't been great between the two of you."
"They really haven't. Especially not since I've spent so much time over here, around Mae and...Trent," she murmured, then blushed a little.
Trent glanced at Candy, who just smiled a little smile but otherwise said nothing and focused on Mae. Who, if she picked up on the subtle interplay at all, said nothing.
"What would you even say to him? How much will you tell him?" Bea asked.
"Not much. But I think I can let him know to watch his back, and that you'll be tied up for a little while dealing with the problem. He'll likely want to hear from you, but I think I can handle him," Stan said. He sounded strangely confident.
"I mean, if you're sure, then yeah, go for it. Let him know I'll be staying here for the duration...and see if you can talk him into covering my shifts at the Pickaxe. He knows something important is going on, but I was kind of light on details."
"I'll handle it. Your father and I go way back, and he's always had a...a way about him. And I learned how to handle him awhile ago."
"Thanks."
They said their goodnights and Mae's parents left.
"What about you two? I think it'd be best if you had an awesome slumber party here. We've got a foldout couch," Mae said, looking at Gregg and Angus.
"All things considered...yes. That might be prudent," Angus said.
"Yeah! Slumber party!" Gregg yelled.
"Unfortunately not, like, a real one," Mae said, yawning. "God, I'm already tired. Uh...will you join me for a shower?" she asked, looking at Trent.
"Yeah, lemme get us locked down and make sure Angus and Gregg have proper bedding," Trent replied. He hesitated briefly as he noted a somewhat worried, almost haunted look Mae's eyes.
The others must have noticed it as well. "Why don't you go on? I'll get the bedding ready," Ann said.
"And I'll make sure we're locked up tight," Bea said.
"All right. Thanks. Come on, Mae."
"Thanks," she murmured, taking his hand.
They walked upstairs and into the bathroom. Trent kept waiting for her to speak up, to say what was on her mind, but they stripped and got into the shower in silence.
"What's wrong?" he asked finally.
She looked deeply disturbed and lost in thought.
"Mae?"
She blinked a few times, then looked up at him. Then hugged him suddenly. He wrapped his arms around her and held her.
"I know where this...ability comes from. And it just really freaks me out. Because a lot of things make sense all of a sudden," she replied.
"What is it?" he asked.
"The Black Goat. It always comes back to that fucking thing. They said...back in the mine, when they were explaining the whole thing, they said that some people have The Glimmer. It's like the damn Shining I guess. It's weird, I'm not sure about it, I'm not even sure they were sure about the whole thing. They said, not everyone can 'hear' the Goat. I think it has to choose people, and if you are chosen, it 'rubs off on you', and you get 'The Glimmer'. And that comes with special abilities. That one guy could walk through walls. I think...the Goat chose me, at some point. Awhile ago. I don't know if that's why I have whatever it is that's wrong with me, or maybe it chose me because of what's wrong with me, but I think it plays a long game. It chose me to be able to hear it, or because I could hear it?, and the side effect is mind-reading. Telepathy."
She looked at him suddenly. "I don't read your mind on purpose, okay? That would be so mean and rude and I would never do it to you on purpose, okay? Do you believe me?"
"Yes, Mae. I believe you." He kissed her forehead. "I trust you, Mae."
"Thank you," she whispered, breathing a heavy sigh of relief. "So much. Really. It means so much to me. I don't know if I could do something like this again without you, without my friends." She shuddered suddenly. "God, so many things. That's why I was so miserable at college, why I felt like I had to come back, probably why I get headaches, my nightmares. Maybe it'll go away once we finish this off. Although I think some of the damage is permanent." She looked up at him again. "I'm sorry. That I'm damaged. I wish I wasn't."
"God, Mae," he whispered, and hugged her again suddenly, squeezed her. "It isn't your fault. Don't be sorry, please. We're all damaged, Mae. In different ways. Bad things happen to us. Sometimes really, really bad things happen to us. And it fucks us up. Sometimes a little, sometimes a lot. And all we can do is just...try to handle it and keep living our lives. And the people who come into our lives have to decide if they will, or even can, handle it. I'm here, Mae. I won't leave. Okay? You're a good person Mae, and I love you."
"I love you, too," she murmured. "You make me feel safe."
"So do you, Mae."
They held each other for awhile longer before she let go of him and washed. "Will you massage me asleep? I really do need my sleep tonight. My mom might actually want this thing to happen before noon." She shuddered.
He couldn't help but laugh. "Jeez, how did you function in college?"
"Not well," she replied.