On their way to Jack's car, Lyla asked, "Did you bring shovels?"

"You really think we're gonna find him on our first try?"

"You don't want to go driving around looking for a shovel with him in the trunk, do you?"

He blanched at the thought.

"Nobody wants that." She sipped her coffee. "My dad has tons of tools."

From the expression on his face, she suspected that the mention of tools evoked disturbing mental images of shovels digging hard-packed turf and mounding soil onto a freshly-dug grave.

They got into his car, neither inclined toward conversation during the short trip.

When they arrived at Lyla's house, she led him into the backyard. The old wooden tool shed stood in the far corner, the rusted hinges moaning as the door slowly drifted open.

Jack put on the brakes. "Sounds like your dad's in there," he whispered.

"He's working the day shift."

She heard someone or something moving around inside the shed.

"Who's there?" He called out then advanced.

Slowly, the door swung shut.

"Come on out," Jack took an aggressive tone. He threw open the door, prepared for a confrontation, but there was no one to confront.

She peered over his shoulder.

He lit his phone and swept it around the interior of the shed. "You heard that, right?"

She nodded and followed the light with her eyes. Nothing had been disturbed. The lawnmower was parked in its usual spot. Hedge clippers, and assorted shovels, trowels, and gardening tools lined the back wall.

"Definitely sounded like someone was in here," she said. "You smell that?"

Instead of the familiar odor of gasoline, fertilizer, and grass seed, the crisp smell of ozone burned her nostrils, like the air after a lightning strike.

Searching the dark recesses of the tool shed, she grabbed a hoe. Jack selected a shovel.

CLANG! Something struck the blade of her hoe.

"What the hell was that?" He directed the light of his phone onto the floor.

"Scared the shit out of me!" she gasped.

Jack stooped down retrieving an object, then held out his hand. "You recognize this?

It was the serpent ring.

"What the hell?!" was the best she could manage as she swiped it from his palm.

"Let's get out of here." The words scraped across her dry tongue. She slipped out of the shed, shielding her eyes from the sunlight, and crossed the yard to his car.

While he stowed the tools in the trunk, she noticed her neighbor peeking out the window, watching them. When the neighbor met Lyla's eyes, she shut the blinds.

She jogged to a sewer grate at the curb.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

She produced the serpent ring from her pocket and dropped it. They watched it bounce on the steel grate before disappearing into the sewer with a splash.

"Was that his ring?"

She nodded. "Maybe this isn't the best time to go out there looking."

"Yeah, it is." He slammed the trunk closed.

They got into the car and embarked on their road trip.

............................................................

Thirty miles outside of the city, the road began to rise as it wound through the countryside. Lyla watched the world go by through the window. Puffy white clouds dotted the sky, the air smelled of pollen and field grass.

"How much further?" she asked.

"I'd say about another ten miles." He checked his phone. "The farm is down the road we just passed. It should be around five miles or so to the place where your car broke down. Maybe closer."

They hadn't seen another car in either direction for miles and miles. Jack drove the narrow two-lane asphalt road along a winding wooded ridge that cut into the hillside. To the left, the hill stretched up and became a mountain. To the right, the terrain dropped steeply into a broad, thick forest. Somewhere down there was the crevasse that cradled Keenan's body.

To Lyla, it all looked the same. The road took gentle arcs through acres and acres of hilly topography. Thick clusters of trees formed a canopy over the narrow, two-lane roadway. There was no specific landmark that she could identify.

"Does anything look familiar?" he asked as he drove slowly.

She shook her head. "That night, it was pitch black. Like I was drowning in darkness. I was so high, beyond panic."

He exhaled a deep breath. They both understood that this wasn't going to be easy.

A piercing shriek momentarily paralyzed them.

"What was that?!" Lyla gulped.

Another ungodly howl cut its way through the thick foliage. She was convinced that deep in the woods, some animal was being torn apart and eaten, emitting the sounds of terror and unimaginable anguish.

Jack accelerated. One last desperate cry erupted followed by silence.