Vale wanted to ask why Katie hadn’t told them this earlier, but he didn’t.She was Cyril’s friend, and Cyril had taken the lead.Besides, Cyril probably wasn’t wrong.Katie was grieving, and she’d been in shock when they’d talked to her the other day.She’d just found out that Sam was dead.She probably hadn’t thought to tell them any of this.
He stared at Katie, wondering if she truly had no idea what Sam had been up to.She seemed distraught, but it could be an act, or maybe that was due to Sam being dead.Cyril would never think that about his friend, but Vale didn’t know Katie.He didn’t care about her the way Cyril did, which meant that he saw things in a way Cyril couldn’t.
“Did you try talking to him?”Cyril asked.
“Of course I did.I asked him what he was up to.I yelled at him when he vanished for hours without telling me where he was.I was worried about him, but he just brushed me off and told me that it was important and that I shouldn’t worry, that he’d fix everything.”
“Do you know why this started?”
“He got fired about five months ago,” Katie explained as she looked down at her hands again.“It was nothing he did, or at least, that’s what he told me.He said it was unfair and that he shouldn’t have been fired.He tried finding another job, but it wasn’t easy.I helped him as much as I could, and I told him not to worry, but things were rough.”
Clearly, Sam had decided to try things differently.Finding a new job hadn’t worked, so he’d decided to summon demons.That made zero sense in Vale’s mind, but he wasn’t the one in Sam’s shoes.He’d probably been desperate after losing his job and had latched onto this.
Vale couldn’t say he’d never thought about demons and the supernatural world.He knew about necromancers and magic users.Usually, it wasn’t anything big, just protection spells and things like that, but if there were people who could use magic, who was to say that the same people couldn’t summon demons?Who was to say that demons didn’t exist?Vale didn’t think he’d truly believe in them unless he saw one, but he wasn’t willing to dismiss the idea.
They talked to Katie for a few more minutes, but either she was keeping it to herself, or she really didn’t know anything else.Eventually, Cyril declared they needed to go.He was probably trying to give her time and space, which Vale thought she’d appreciate.
“What now?”Cyril asked once they were back in the car.
“Maybe we should go to the lake,” Vale suggested.
Cyril frowned.“Why?”
“Well, I’ve never been, and I’m curious.I also think that if the police believed it was an accident, they were probably superficial when they examined the scene.We might find something.”
“I can’t say I’m eager to visit that place.”
“You can stay in the car.”
“Maybe I will,” Cyril murmured.
Vale wished they didn’t have to do it, but for now, it was a waiting game, and both he and Cyril found it frustrating.Maybe going to the lake wouldn’t change anything, but it was something to try instead of going straight home and staring at the walls.
* * * *
THERE WAS NOTHING ATthe lake.
Cyril wasn’t surprised, and he wished they hadn’t come.He didn’t want to be where Sam had died.He couldn’t stop thinking about what Sam had been thinking when it happened and what he’d gone through, and he hated it.He’d never been so close to death before, even though he worked with dead people almost every day.
In a way, he was lucky.He’d only ever had his mother, which meant he’d never lost anyone.His father had died, but Cyril had been too young to truly make sense of it.He couldn’t ignore Sam’s death, though.
He stayed by the car as he watched Vale poke around.He didn’t want to go anywhere near the water, but he would if Vale needed him to.He hoped he wouldn’t.The thought that Sam had died in there freaked him out.He doubted he’d ever come back to the lake, not even in the hottest summers.
It was a pity because it was a beautiful place.On calm days like today, the surface of the lake was so still that it felt like time was suspended.It was impossible to believe that anyone could die here, but Sam had.He’d died in the calm water that reflected the clouds lazily drifting in the sky.He’d died amongst the sound of the birds singing and the insects buzzing, amongst the scents of the wild plants and flowers that framed the lake.
There were worst places to die, but Cyril wished Sam hadn’t died at all.
Vale crouched and poked at something on the sand.Cyril frowned, but he didn’t move closer to see what it was.He knew that whatever Vale had found, he’d take care of it and tell him.
“Someone built a big fire here,” Vale said.“There are footprints, and while they’re messy, I’m pretty sure Sam wasn’t here alone.”
Cyril took a step forward but stopped.He couldn’t do it.“How many people?”
“I don’t know.I’m going to say at least another three.I think I can see four different sets of footprints.”
So Sam had been here with three people, and they’d built a fire.Why?
“The fire was pretty big, more like a bonfire,” Vale continued.“You can’t see it from where you are because of the grass, but it was big enough to get people’s attention.”
