A few hours later, our investigations temporarily finished, I sat up on the couch and listened to the wind through the side windows. It whistled softly, gently brushing the shades back and forth.
“Hey, husband, this is empty. Get me another beer?” Rachel nudged me with her toe. “Husband. That’s going to take some getting used to.”
“It’s better than jerk.” I picked up her bottle and mine.
“Oh, that’s not retired. I’m just stuck with you now.” She chuckled.
At the refrigerator I popped two more open, then paused. The window over the sink was open, the breeze blowing the blue calico curtain hanging down.
I heard singing.
Back in the living room I set the bottles down in front of Rachel. “I hear them singing,” I told her. “The fairies, or whatever they are.”
Rachel took a swig, then stood up. “Let’s check it out. Let me—where are my clothes?”
We pulled sweats and shirts on quickly and headed out the front door. I brought a flashlight.
Lazy waves from the lake lapped at the sand. The sky was cloudy, hiding the new moon, but a few stars shone through, brighter than any you’d see in Chicago. We held hands as we made our way through the darkness toward the trees.
“I can hear it,” Rachel murmured. “It’s—weird.”
I tripped over a tree branch in the sand and flicked on the flashlight, but Rachel squeezed my arm. “Turn it off. You’ll—I think it has to be dark for them.”
We stepped cautiously into the trees, following the flowing sound of singing. All at once the darkness around us lit up like a Christmas tree in every direction. We were surrounded by fairies glowing in every color imaginable, sailing through the air like fireflies, singing softly as they rose and fell and circled the air around us.
Rachel leaned forward, peering at the flickering shapes, a smile on her face as they rushed toward her and zoomed away. She held out a hand, and three of them came down and danced over her open palm in the air. Rachel laughed.
We stood there in the darkness surrounded by light for a long time. Minutes, hours—time seemed to fade in and out, disappearing in the distance and then skipping back, only to spin away into the night. I held Rachel’s hand, feeling her breathe, and we exchanged smiles. I didn’t think about what we were seeing, where the fairies had come from, where they’d gone this morning. All I could do was experience of sensation of being in the middle of them, watching and listening as they soared and sang.
Then the singing shifted. First it grew louder, more of a series of shrieks than a song. Then it dropped away, like the last few notes of a symphony. The fairies began swirling around us, faster and faster, and then they spun off, flying into the darkness in every direction.
And then the darkness fell all around us.
Rachel jerked my hand. “Tom?”
“Yeah.” I fumbled for my flashlight, but dropped it. “Damn it.” I leaned down to run my hand across the ground in search of it, but Rachel yanked my hand. “Just come on. There’s something—”
In the darkness something even darker emerged. I couldn’t see it, but I could feel the ground lurch under me and smell something foul in the air. I turned and let Rachel pull me, struggling to keep my balance over the uneven ground, the stones and sticks and loose dirt that threatened to send us sprawling on the dirt, all while the pounding behind us kept getting closer, closer, until I could feel hot breath on my neck as my heart hammered in my chest.
Then we were on the beach again. The stars shimmered in the sky. The water stroked the shore in lazy waves. Rachel and I slumped to the sand, gasping for breath.
“W-what was that?” I looked over my shoulder, afraid of what I might see, but the trees just stood there silently as if they’d been watching over the beach for centuries.
She shook her head. “I don’t know. But it was bad.”
“Yeah, I got that.” I looked at her. “You okay?”
Rachel nodded. She rolled over to look at the trees. “It’s gone.”
We sat on the sand for a few minutes, catching our breath. No more singing. Eventually we managed to get back to our feet, and we headed back to the cabin.
We slept late the next morning. We’d stayed up late talking about our experience in the darkness without coming up with any answers, and by one-thirty we were too tired for anything but sleep.
I was making breakfast at 11:15 when someone knocked on the door. On the porch stood a stocky woman in a police uniform, gray hair pulled back, holding her hat at her side. “Sorry to bother you,” she said. “I’m Sheriff McIntyre. I need to ask if you’ve seen or heard anything in the woods outside this cabin.”
I moved back to let her inside. Rachel came out of the bedroom in shorts and a bathrobe. “What’s going on?”
“This is my, uh, my wife, Rachel,” I told the sheriff. “We’re on our honeymoon.”
“Oh!” She smiled. “Well, I’m sorry to bother you. Congratulations. But I have to ask you about the woods around this cabin.”
“What’s going on?” Rachel asked again.
“Well, there was a man found dead out in the woods about half a mile away.” McIntyre frowned. “His car was on the road out there. I don’t mean to alarm you. It looks like he was possibly beaten and mauled by an animal.”
“Oh my God.” Rachel and I looked at each other. “What kind of animal?” I asked. “Bear? Wolf? Wendigo?”
“We get a few bears, but they usually don’t bother anybody. What’s a wendigo?”
We’d run into a not-so-mythical wendigo a couple of years ago. I didn’t try to explain. Rachel poured coffee and we sat down around the table.
“Did you hear anything last night?” the sheriff asked. “It was a long ways away, but sound travels a long way in the woods at night.”
Again Rachel and I glanced at each other.
Back home I usually tell the cops everything, even if vampires or demons are in the middle of it. But most cops in Chicago know who I am, even if they don’t take me seriously. Out here I didn’t know anybody, and I didn’t have a lawyer within easy reach. I opted for discretion. “No,” I said. “We were inside all night. Just—honeymoon stuff.”
Rachel kicked me under the table. McIntyre smiled.
“Who was it?” I asked. “Someone from around here?”
“No, he was with a development company. Some folks are talking about building a big resort around the lakeshore.” She grimaced. “Not a popular topic around town.”
“Yeah, we overheard an argument about it at the diner last night. Is it going to happen?”
She shrugged. “Don’t know. There’s a town meeting tonight about it. My guys are going to be working overtime. Hope it doesn’t erupt into anything. People are pretty hot.” She stood up. “Well, thanks for your time. Enjoy the rest of your honeymoon.”
I finished making breakfast while Rachel showered and got dressed. “What’s on for today?” she asked, sitting down to her eggs. “Aside from the obvious, of course.”
“There’s mini-golf up the road a few miles. And that restaurant in the next town.”
“Sounds good.” She set down her fork and stared at me. “And you want to go to that town meeting tonight, don’t you?”
I grinned. “It’s like you know me or something.”
Rachel rolled her eyes. “You’re going to owe me. Big time. Before and after.”
“As long as it’s not during.” I picked up my coffee.
She smirked. “Don’t give me any ideas.”
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