It was the first day of March, and although winter was not quite dead, it was clearly on its way out.
Trent and Mae were out walking through town. In a way, it felt not unlike the day that Ann had convinced him that he needed to just step away and take a break. Because that was what he and Mae were doing for the moment.
Just getting out of the house, walking through town, holding hands.
February had been a long, strange month that, even now, didn't quite seem real. For any of them, but especially for Trent and Mae.
And especially for Mae.
In a way, it was somewhat like that period of time after Longest Night, where she just needed time to rest and recover, although she hadn't been quite so cloistered this time. Trent had sort of expected a lot of things to happen in the month following his and Mae's clash with a cult and their old god. And he supposed a lot had happened.
There'd been something like fifty five arrests made.
The mines had officially been legally declared condemned and no one was allowed anywhere near them.
Molly was now the new Chief of Police, and had begun hiring. She'd actually tentatively tossed Trent a question of whether he'd consider joining, but that had been a firm no.
Other things had happened, but they were largely beyond the sphere of awareness of Trent, Mae, and their friends. Save for Bea. Perhaps the most significant non-insane thing to happen within the group was that this whole episode seemed to have been the catalyst to push Bea's dad into finally getting off the couch and getting back into the Pickaxe.
She'd been over several times to the house, spending as many of her days off there as she could.
But really, February had just been about recovery for them all. There had been a lot of sleeping. And a lot of relaxing. And a lot of indulging. It only felt right. They played games, they toked up, they ate a lot crap but good food, they watched a lot of stupid movies and fun cartoons. There was some work in there on Trent's and Ann's parts. But mostly they just had one long, fun sleepover. Gregg and Angus actually ended up living with them for nearly three weeks. First through Trent's hospital stay, then his recovery, and then for about another week after their bombing of the mines. It had been a lot of fun.
Eventually, though, they'd gone back to their apartment.
"Here," Mae said, abruptly coming to a halt.
"Here? Not there?" Trent asked, nodding to the building adjacent to the one they were standing in front of. The one he thought they were heading for: the Pickaxe.
"Here," Mae repeated, and began leading him around to the side alley of the Towne Center Family Practice side of the building.
"All right," Trent muttered, glancing at the other building making up the alleyway, the Telezoft company's building. "But why though?"
"I've got a feeling," Mae replied. "Trust me."
"I trust you," Trent said.
Mae grinned at him and squeezed his hand. They walked around to the back of the building, where Mae located a ladder lashed to the brickwork, and started climbing it. Trent looked up at her for a moment, and then shrugged and began climbing.
"I can see your butt," he said.
"Yeah, my fat ass," she replied.
"Heh...yeah."
"Real glad that worked out, to be honest. Because, like...I'm never gonna be in shape, I'll be honest. I mean, I don't know, maybe years from now I'll be a totally different person and be as fit as Bea, but like...I really doubt it."
"I want you to do whatever makes sense to you, but I also want you to know that I really like the way you look right now. Those fucking jeans on your hips and ass…"
"Oh my God, you absolute weirdo! Okay, okay, reel in it, though. There might be a minor up here," she said.
"...a miner?" he asked.
"No, like, a teenager?"
"Oh!...wait, why? On the roof?"
"Yeah, just trust me."
"Okay."
She disappeared over the top of the building a moment later and he heard her let out a happy gasp. "Lori! You are up here! And you went goth!"
"Mae! I was hoping you'd come up today. I thought about shouting down at you, but then I thought that'd be kinda weird, and it looked like you were with someone...oh."
Trent poked his head over the roof's edge as he reached the apex and saw Mae standing with a young, gray-furred mouse who wore a black hoodie, black jeans, and black shoes.
"Lori, this is my boyfriend, Trent! Trent, this is my friend, Lori! I met her wandering around the rooftops a few months ago and then we laid under the trains and smooshed metal dudes!" Mae said, beaming with a broad smile.
"I...okay. Nice to meet you Lori," Trent replied as he finished climbing up.
"Hi," she murmured, not meeting his eyes. "You're, um, tall. Wow."
"Lori's shy," Mae said.
"Yeah. Sorry." She started breathing more rapidly. "I need a minute. I'm sorry. I get weird."
"It's okay, take your time," Trent replied.
"Thanks." She turned away from them and was silent for a long moment, then took a deep breath and let it out slowly, then turned back around. "Okay, I'm better now. Sort of. Hi again. I'm Lori Meyers," she said.
"Trent Sinclair. And...Lori Meyers, like-"
She grinned. "Yeah, like Halloween. Got lucky there, I guess."
"Speaking of lucky, like, nice hoodie, dude," Mae said. "And shoes."
"Oh yeah," she said, looking down briefly at herself, "it's birthday presents. I really wanted them, and-"
"Oh no! I missed your birthday!?" Mae cried, a look of genuine dismay coming onto her face.
"It's okay! It's not a big deal," Lori replied.
"I'm sorry! Ugh, I wanted to get you something!"
"No really! You don't have to do that! Like, it's okay. For real. I, like, appreciate it and all but it's really for real okay, you don't have to like, make a thing out of it," Lori said.
"I...okay. I mean, I want to get you something or do something for you, but you're right. I'm sorry, I'm probably freaking you out, but like, you actually told me that, like articulated your feelings, I don't know if I've ever heard you do that before."
Lori laughed nervously, rubbing one arm. "I got into therapy over winter break. I go once a week, out in Briddle. I'm also on some anti-anxiety medication finally and it helped, just...like...chill my brain out. I don't know, I still freak out, but it's like easier to deal with? And I'm learning about advocating for myself, and how to ask for things, and, like, how to calm down. It doesn't always work, but often it does to a certain degree...also, um, could you like, not tell anyone? I trust you, Mae, and I guess if you're with her that means she trusts you…"
"We won't tell anyone," Mae said. "I promise." She looked at Trent.
Trent raised one hand. "I swear I will not tell anyone," he said.
Lori giggled. "Terminator 2, yeah?"
He nodded. "Yeah. But for real, I promise I won't tell anyone. Privacy is important to me."
"Yeah, for real, Lori, he's like stupid nice about stuff."
"That's cool."
"Hell yeah, I like, won the significant other lottery."
"Oh! Speaking of which...we actually did win the lottery," Lori said.
Mae's eyes bulged. "For real!?"
"Yeah! I mean, no, not like, you know, the big one with the millions or whatever, but like...I mean, not a little, either. My parents don't want me to say, you know, how much, but it's like a lot. That's why I got the nice clothes and the therapy and medication. It was really lucky," she said.
Trent and Mae shared an unhappy glance. Luck. There had been a lot of stories of people getting lucky, good things happening, money coming in, new jobs…
Some of the graves had been empty, purely ceremonial, because the cult members had fallen into the hole and were lost.
The Black Goat was fed, and now good things were happening.
Coincidence? Still couldn't be sure.
Thankfully, Lori was too caught up in her story to notice. "And I got a new camera! Like a nice one! And a new laptop with some cool editing software! I'm actually trying to like put together a movie! A horror movie!"
"Dude, yes! Can we help? Hey, I know, you wanna get dinner at Taco Buck? And you can tell us about it? We can buy!" Mae said.
"Um, yeah okay. They've got super good tacos there, and I've been dying to tell someone about it, and actually yes, I wanted to ask if you would be willing to be in it!" Lori replied as they began walking over to the ladder.
"I don't even care what I have to be, I am so in."
"Really?" Lori asked.
"Really. For completely serious, I am so in."
"Thank you!"
They climbed down the ladder and went around the front of the clinic.
"Oh, hey, uh, would it be weird if another friend of ours joined us? Normally I wouldn't ask but like we were gonna see anyway and we're going to pass right in front of where she works and she's almost surely gonna see us and I'd feel bad about ignoring her?" Mae asked.
"Uh...yeah, that's fine," Lori replied.
They walked in front of the Pickaxe and sure enough there was Bea inside, behind the counter. She looked very busy and when she caught a glimpse of them through the window, she gave them a quick little slashing gesture across her throat. Which, in Bea-speak, was 'I'm too busy right now'. They both nodded. Trent had mixed feelings when he saw her dad in the store. Ultimately, it was a good thing, for a number of reasons, but he was also reminded of the fact that they had to hide their relationship, which had only grown stronger.
Before they left, Bea gave him a smoldering stare through the plate glass, ending it with a little smirk and just the quickest of kissing gestures, before getting back to work.
"She's too busy," Mae said, "oh well. Come on."
"That's your friend? Man, she scares me," Lori murmured as they walked on.
"Bea? Really?" Mae asked.
"Yeah, and, like...I'm not trying to start any shit or anything but like...if I had a boyfriend and she looked at him like that, I'd be scared."
"Oh, you don't have to worry, they're totally fu-" Mae stopped and cleared her throat. "They're totally friends. We're all friends, it's completely cool. And Bea's super nice. Like, she's really hardcore, and she can be a real grouch sometimes, but she's been through a lot, and at her core, she's really nice and considerate. She'd never just be mean to you for the hell of it or anything."
"Mae's right, but I know what you mean about the intimidation factor. Bea's...something else," Trent said.
"Oh...okay, then. Cool. Actually, I'd really like for her to be in the movie, too, I'm just way too scared to ask. Do you think she'd do it?"
"You know, maybe she would," Mae said. "I'd have to talk with her about it."
"Awesome!"
They walked until they reached the Taco Buck. Heading inside, they found it to be mostly empty.
"I just realized, uh...like, you're good to cover, right?" Mae murmured as Lori stood at the front register, looking up at the menu.
"Yes, babe," he replied, laughing.
"I'm sorry. I just...get excited."
"It's okay. Lori seems nice."
"She is. She's sweet, and cool, and she wants to make horror movies! We should totally foster this behavior. We'll be, like, her cool horror-obsessed foster parents!"
"What's my, like, limit?" Lori asked, glancing back.
"No limit, go nuts," Trent replied.
"For real? I'm like mega hungry."
"For real, consider it a late present."
"I mean...okay. Thank you. For real," she said.
"You're welcome."
"Yeah, have fun, kid," Mae said.
She grinned. "Okay, adult."
"You know, like, so many people, Mae," Trent said. "I thought I'd met everyone, between Bea and Germ and your old teacher and a freaking Pastor and a cop and...who else is there?" he asked.
She laughed. "Uh...lemme think about it. I mean, we still gotta track down Rabies someday."
"So remind me, who is Rabies?"
"A possum," she said. "I mean, like, an actual possum. Wildlife. Also the weird teens that hang out around the church and graveyard but...I don't even know their names, and I mean I guess we won't really like seek them out. I mean I wouldn't avoid them, but whatever. Oh! If we can find her again, Miss Rosa. She knew my grandad. She's a nice old lady. I guess she hooked up with my grandpa like...on the side?"
"Holy shit, she said that to your face?" he asked.
"I mean, not exactly, but it was pretty obvious that's what had happened. She wouldn't say if it was before or after he'd met my grandma, but given how my grandpa was...I mean, I dunno, my relationship isn't, in any way, traditional, so…" She shrugged. "Uh, who else? There's Jackie but she hates me but she's real good friends with Bea so you'll meet her for sure. Uh, there's a weird dude who fishes down in the tunnel who's always going on about poetry and fish judging him? We're not really friends though. There's this guy who I kept like walking outside his second-story window and asking him what's in the news and it kinda became a thing for awhile?"
"Wait, you were up on the side of someone's house?"
"Yeah. No. Like, it was an apartment. I just like to walk around on the fire escapes sometimes. There's also the jerk next to Selma's place, and the sad guy who really likes the Smelters...these aren't, like, friends though. Just people I'd say hi to. There's Mister Salvi. He's an old friend of my mom's, he's cool. Some of the junk in my room came from his tunnel excursion. He's got a boat that he takes down the flooded tunnel to collect junk."
"You...I mean, that shouldn't surprise me, that you did that."
"I was safe! Hmm. Oh yeah! Sadie and Saleem if we can ever find them. They play music and they're cool! I found them while I was wandering the rooftops and showed them to each other and now they play music together! Sometimes they're in the tunnel, too."
"Anyone else?" he asked.
"No, not really. Oh hey, it's our turn, come on."
They walked up to the counter and ordered a dozen tacos and a pair of fountain drinks, then Trent paid and they joined Lori in getting their drinks. Once they had them filled, they took a seat in the corner booth to wait for their food.
"Okay, so like, what's the deal with this movie?" Mae asked.
"It's called Gasmask," Lori replied.
"I already love that."
"Actually yeah, me too. That's a sick name," Trent said.
"Thanks. Uh. I got this like custom-made gasmask online. It just got here a few days ago. It looks super weird and creepy. But I don't know, this idea came to me, like hard, after I learned they were making a new Halloween movie. I don't know if they're gonna mess it all up or not, like all the others, but that also got me thinking about Friday the 13th and cool zombie Jason and how cool faceless masked killers that might or might not be human are, and I wanted to do something like that. It's not as, like, cerebral as my other idea that I told you about, but I don't know, I just kinda feel the need to do it, you know? Even if it's relatively simple," she explained.
"This still sounds super cool to me. So it's like a serial killer in a gasmask killing people?" Mae asked.
"Yes. We've got a lot of cool abandoned places to film in around town. All the old abandoned like houses and barns, that old factory, the old mill, the watertower, the woods, the mines-"
"No," Mae said flatly, "don't ever go around the mines, Lori. Okay?"
"I...o-okay. I still haven't really been able to put together what, like, happened up there. There's been all this news about a cult? It's so crazy. Is that why?"
"Yeah," Mae replied, "and it's just, it's dangerous. My Aunt Molly is a cop and she was telling me how dangerous it is up there, with sinkholes and gases and cave-ins and stuff, I just-I don't want anything to happen to you."
"Oh...thanks."
"But I will totally break into old places and film with you there," she added.
Lori grinned. "Really?"
"Totally. What role do you want me to play?"
"Well, uh, I was hoping you'd be the one in the gasmask."
Mae's eyes went wide. "Oh my God. Yes. I will so totally do this. I will absolutely do this." She hesitated, then frowned. "But...aren't I like not really intimidating enough? Like you're gonna be taller than me soon, kid."
"No, that's just the thing, you aren't super huge and tall and intimidating, that's why it's a good idea," Lori replied. "Everyone expects some huge hulking dude but I think it'd be scarier if it was someone short like you."
Trent tensed slightly, wondering if Mae's natural inclination to get upset whenever someone called her short would crop up, but it seemed to sail past her. "That's a cool idea, actually. So am I, like, a person, or a monster? Or a demon? Or is it just a mystery the whole time?"
"I'm still working out the actual plot," Lori replied. "We could start shooting some stuff this weekend, if you wanted. And maybe Trent could be, like, the first victim. Although, uh...or maybe the third victim."
"What's wrong with being the first?" Mae asked.
"It's just...I had the idea of opening it kind of cliched, like, a couple making out? But he's your boyfriend, and I mean you'd be the killer...but maybe we could shoot it in such a way that you'd be out of frame, so you could be the girlfriend and the killer?...hmm…"
"I mean it's just acting, right?" Mae asked with a small smile. "I bet I could talk Bea into that."
"Probably not with a camera rolling," Trent said.
"Wait, you'd for real let some super hot goth chick make out with your boyfriend?" Lori asked.
"I mean, it's just acting," Mae repeated.
"You're weird," Lori replied. Then her eyes widened a little. "Oh man, I'm sorry, that was rude. I'm-just forget I said anything. Whatever you think is cool. I need time to figure it out anyway."
"Whatever you want. I will definitely be in this and you can direct me and just let be me a gasmask serial killer and I will be so happy and act so good," Mae said.
"I gotta be honest, I probably suck at acting," Trent admitted.
"We'll figure it out. Really, I'm just happy to have actors." She paused as their order was called. Trent got up, grabbed the food, and brought it back over. "Thanks for this again. It's, like, really nice."
"Trent's awesomely nice," Mae said, then stopped talking as she began digging into her tacos, except to say "OMFG tacos!"
Lori laughed. "How'd you two, like, meet? Is it, um, serious? I don't know, I'm sorry if these are rude questions."
"It's fine," Trent said. "Pretty sure there's no such thing as a rude question for Mae if she is friends with you."
"Mmm-hmm!" Mae agreed as she bit into another taco.
"It's pretty serious. I have my own house, she moved in with me a few months ago."
"Oh wow! That's so crazy, you told me you were gonna be a forever alone one time, Mae."
"I thought I was. I mean it sure wasn't intentional that I'd be one. I have no idea why Trent likes me so much but he does. We met at the bus station."
"Yeah, all because Mae had a dream," Trent said, and then began telling her the story.
After another hour of them telling her a very family-friendly and truncated version of their relationship, and fielding a lot of questions, they ended up outside in front of the Taco Buck.
"Ugh, I gotta go home. My mom's gonna be annoyed if I don't. But, like, can we trade numbers so we can keep in touch? If you're really serious about this, I'd really like to film this weekend. Like, Friday afternoon actually," Lori said as she pulled out a phone.
"Yeah, I'm down," Trent said.
"I'm extremely so down and I'll see what Bea thinks," Mae replied.
"Okay, cool! It was awesome seeing you, thanks again for the food, bye!"
And then she was scurrying off.
"She lives out by the train tracks," Mae murmured.
"You seem fond of her," Trent replied.
"Yeah, she's like...I don't know, a little sister? I don't know. She's good, and nice, and awkward, kind of like me. I guess I just worry about her and I want her to be happy. The past half year has really shown me, like, how absolutely fucked things can get, and seemingly without warning. I don't know, there's something about her, like...she's still kind of got that childhood innocence sorta? I feel like I lost that, like a lot of us have. And it's not a good thing to lose. But it's also a thing you don't have to lose, not completely. There aren't enough, like, really nice people in the world. They need to be protected," Mae explained.
"Is that why you're so protective of me? Because you seem to think I'm so nice," Trent asked.
She laughed. "Yeah. That, and your dick. Like wow, your dick. And tongue. And fingers."
"Mae," he groaned, looking around.
"Sorry, not sorry," she replied. "Let's go see Bea."
"Yes. Let's." They began walking back towards the Pickaxe. "Try to keep it under wraps. Her dad is probably there."
"Yeah, yeah, I know."