LOT'S MOUNTAIN

CHAPTER THIRTY: A Smart Plan Mixed with a Little Stupid

Things don't get all that friendly, but it's pretty calm, or at least a whole lot calmer than before. I'm not sure if it's because Drew Sherman gives another one of his speeches or because the Mourner has started playing again. His fiddle playing can toss people (with Grim's help), but it can also get them to thinking about the past. No one's gone air-born yet. That's a plus, right?

A few folks, while still keeping a safe distance, hum along and sing with the old tune the Mourner's got going. Maybe they remember people that are gone now or people they might lose if we fail.

Maybe people're finally seeing that monsters have been here all along and that it's going to take all of us to get through this. Humans usually don't think like that. Yeah, the Mourner must be using magic on them all right. Hey, whatever works. Grim looks like he wants to come over with me, Jamie, and Mark, but he doesn't. I wave him over, but he just shakes his head. All the monsters stick together in that one spot.

Frowning, Drew Sherman comes over to us and says, "Tim and Diane."

"I don't know. They're probably still at their house." Wait. He wasn't asking me a question. From that look on his face ... He isn't asking me where they are. He's telling me that they're here somewhere. I don't want to see them, not yet. I just don't. Maybe they're in one of the side rooms.

"Dylan, they'll be glad that you're safe," he says that, but I imagine that they don't give a damn about me right now. I royally screwed up their lives. But, in my defense, their lives were pretty messed up to begin with.

"I don't know how long we'll be able to keep everyone calm. They know that something very bad is happening right now. I think they're only willing to stay here because it's safe." Drew Sherman hesitates. I'm guessing he's not wanting to say what he wants to in front of Jamie and Mark. He then says real soft, "We tried calling the police, but we can't reach anyone."

"You won't," Mark butts in. "Jamie and I tried calling outside of town to get more help, but now we can't dial out. And a few minutes, we couldn't get any of the phones to work at all."

The Glass Man's isolating us. Before, the Stone Men had done it quietly so that just about no one knew what they were doing. But Glass isn't real subtle. He doesn't want help coming. If he's opening all of this up now, it's because he's close to winning.

The Stone Men, if any survived Shard and its crew, aren't strong enough to do anything now. The Glass Man is going to start acting real fast to take control of us and keep that control. How long before he storms in here after me? Christ, I hadn't really thought of that before.

I feel like I just swallowed a cold lump of ice.

"I should get out of here," I say, taking a step back.

"No," Jamie says.

"He'll come for me next." I end up saying that a little louder than I mean to.

"Then he comes for you," Drew Sherman says.

I tell him, "The Glass Man needs me to get a whole lot more powerful than he already is."

"Then he'll have to come and get you," Jamie says, crossing her arms over her chest.

Drew Sherman chimes in, "She's right."

Trying to figure this out, I walk over to Grim. Jamie, Mark, and Drew Sherman follow me. Dennis heads over too, mainly to look out for his little sister.

"What about Belle Lake?" I ask Grim suddenly. I'm not sure why that pops into my head, but why not? They'll be safer here than at the church, right? It'll stand longer than this place. "Can these people go there?"