Chapter 3
CHAPTER THREE
The interior of Hollow Grounds coffeehouse smelled like heaven when Demetrius walked in the door.
He drew in a deep breath and sighed. Then the scream of a steamer made him close one eye and flinch.
When the milk had been properly frothed and the machine quieted, the gentle chords of a soft rock song wafted over him.
Robin Moreau—the non-binary Gen Z kid Oliver had befriended during his time at Bishop Point University, and who had helped them track down the mummy after it had grabbed Oliver as he was waiting to walk down the aisle—was working the counter, smiling and joking with each customer in line.
Diane, the shop’s owner, worked alongside Robin.
She was in her thirties with wavy dark hair and a narrow face.
As Demetrius waited behind a man who should not have been wearing flip flops, he opened his phone and checked the shared Critter Catchers calendar.
Cody and Jugs were taking care of the two morning jobs, which left him a morning to get some administrative and what he thought of as ‘off the books’ work done.
Which meant he was going to stop by Clarabell’s and talk about any online chatter she’d been tracking.
Clarabell had taken a liking to Robin when she’d met them at the wedding, and when she’d learned Robin lived in his sister’s basement, she’d invited them to move into the spare bedroom of her apartment there in Parson’s Hollow.
“Demetrius, hi!” Robin’s big and bright smile could have powered the entire town. “You want the usual?”
“Hey Robin, yes please.”
“Coming right up.” Robin tapped at the register screen. “Anything else? Drinks for the office? Secret muffin just for you? Chocolate chips just hit the case.” They waved to the glass display case.
Demetrius hesitated. “I shouldn’t, but God they look good. Okay, get me two.”
“Breakfast and lunch?” Robin grinned as they used a precut piece of wax paper to snag two of the biggest muffins.
“I’m actually headed over to visit your roommate, so one’s for her.”
Robin crimped the top of the paper bag and slid it across the glass. They braced their hands on the case and said, “I love living with Clarabell. She’s quirky and fun and knows so much weird stuff.”
Demetrius chuckled as he tapped his credit card against the reader. “That she does.”
“I’m really grateful Oliver introduced me to all of you.”
“Even though it meant you had to fight a mummy?”
Robin nodded. “Totally worth it. Also, I felt kind of guilty about all that since it was my suggestion for Oliver to be at the coffin opening.”
“Every decision has an outcome,” Demetrius said.
“Demetrius going in for the Aristotle causality and consequence quote of the day,” Robin said, then mimed shooting a basket. “A three-pointer from just outside the paint.” They grinned and winked. “I’m taking a philosophy class during summer session, can you tell?”
Demetrius laughed. “I can. Good to see you so upbeat.”
Robin winked. “Ask Oliver what my secret is.” They lowered their voice and whispered, “It’s gallons of caffeine.
” The two of them laughed together, then Robin tipped their head toward the pick up area.
“Your order’s up. Tell my roomie I said hi, and I’ll bring her a grilled gruyere cheese croissant after my shift. ”
“You got it.”
Demetrius grabbed his macchiato and bumped the door open with his hip.
The sun was a bright, perfect egg yolk in the cloudless blue sky, and the humidity and heat surrounded him the moment his feet hit the sidewalk.
The material of his t-shirt stuck to his skin, and he wondered, again, why he kept ordering a hot macchiato and not an iced.
The drive to Clarabell’s was short, and the truck’s air conditioning had barely kicked in by the time he arrived. When she buzzed him in, he climbed the stairs that opened into her combination living room, dining area, and kitchen. Clarabell stood behind the island, rinsing dishes.
“I brought you a chocolate chip muffin, and your roomie says hi.” Demetrius set the bag on the island and perched on a stool. “They also said something about a grilled cheese.”
“I love that grilled cheese croissant. I’ll be done here in a minute. I’m cleaning up from our cooking experiment last night.”
“Oh yeah? What did you make?”
She widened her eyes. “Bouillabaisse.”
“Wow. That’s complicated, isn’t it?”
“Extremely.” She resumed loading the dishwasher. “And I think we used every dish I own.”
“Was it good?”
She clasped her hands in front of her chest and swooned slightly. “So good. I have some leftover if you want to try it.”
“I’ll stick with my muffin, thanks.”
He fished one out of the bag and picked at the top, nibbling as she continued to work on the other side of the island.
“We found another zombie a couple of nights ago.”
That made her pause. “Dammit, again?”
“Again,” Demetrius said. “A client hired us to check out a house out in Stone Hill. She said some pets on the block had gone missing and something big was ransacking the trash cans up and down the block.”
“Stone Hill, where’s that?”
Demetrius looked around as he tried to get his bearings, then pointed. “Out that way. Not too far.”
She nodded then resumed loading the dishwasher.
“Any online chatter?” he asked.
“A couple of things in that Parson’s Hollow Discord group but nothing specific.”
“What kinds of things?”
Clarabell loaded the final dish, added a detergent pod, and started the dishwasher before facing him. “People hearing things at night. Seeing figures in the woods, that kind of thing.”
“Figures? Like witches or something?”
“Didn’t sound like it. Come on, I’ll show you.”
They sat on the sofa, and as she logged into her laptop and navigated to the site, Demetrius told her about their encounter with the zombie.
Clarabell sat upright, eyes wide. “I can’t believe it’s been out there this whole time.”
“Believe it. He looked and smelled like it.” Demetrius shuddered at the memory and wiped his hands on the legs of his shorts.
They checked out Discord and Reddit groups but found nothing more than mentions of figures in the woods and more pets going missing.
“Those missing pets could be due to wildlife,” Demetrius said.
With the groups reviewed, Clarabell brought up a complicated spreadsheet. Demetrius was familiar with it, they all were since Cody’s brother, Dave, had begun compiling the information Clarabell collected across multiple websites into a shared database.
“I forgot to add our zombie to the list,” Demetrius said.
“I’ll do it.” She moved the cursor to a blank line and he gave her the information for each cell.
“Did you tell Lucia about the zombie?” Clarabell asked.
Demetrius slumped back against the cushion. “No. I really didn’t want to.”
“She’ll see this update,” she said. “You know whenever this thing is updated, we all get notified.”
“I’m quite aware.”
“Okay.” She switched from the spreadsheet to a browser window, leaned in to read a post, then, shaking her head, typed a response.
Closing the laptop, she turned on the sofa to face him more fully.
Demetrius took a moment to appreciate today’s outfit: an oversized t-shirt with a print of Godzilla lounging in the rubble of a city, holding a skyscraper like a cigar in one clawed hand and blowing smoke rings.
She also wore black leggings, and slippers shaped like Steven Spielberg’s E.T.
“I’ll keep a closer watch on the groups,” Clarabell said, “and let you know if I see anything new.”
“Thanks.” He gestured to the laptop. “How are you affording all of this stuff?”
She grinned. “I’m really good at writing up grant applications. How are Cody and Jugs doing?”
“Cody had a follow-up yesterday. He’s healing well. Jugs has an appointment tomorrow, I think. Hopefully, the cervical collar comes off and his mood will improve.”
“I saw him driving through town the other day. Is he allowed to drive with a neck brace?”
“He shouldn’t, let’s put it that way.”
“Those employees of yours.”
“Right?” He picked off another piece of muffin. “I’m concerned about the new chatter. What locations were those again?”
Clarabell opened the laptop again and brought up the spreadsheet. “Stone Hill subdivision.”
Gooseflesh ran up Demetrius’s arms. “That’s where that abandoned house was located.”
They looked at each other in silence for a moment.
“Guess we should bump up our supply of garlic and wolfsbane,” Clarabell said as she picked up her phone and typed herself a reminder.
“Yeah, guess so.” He pushed the muffin on the coffee table away. “The sugar’s going to make me crash if I finish that.”
“Robin will devour it the minute they get home.” Clarabell studied him a moment. “You doing okay? You two have gone through a lot in a short amount of time.”
“We all have.” He touched her arm then got to his feet. “I’m doing good. Thanks for the talk.”
“Doesn’t seem like I helped.” Clarabell got up as well. “I might have made you feel worse.”
“No, you didn’t. Just gave me a lot to think about.” He checked the time on his phone. “I’m going to head to the office.”
He picked up his drink, gave her a wave, and descended the stairs.
The truck’s cab felt like an oven set to broil, and he cranked the AC as he pulled away from the curb.
Not even a block later, the blip of a police siren from behind startled him, and red and blue lights flashed in his rearview mirror.
“Oh, come the fuck on,” he muttered, slowing to a stop at the curb.
Deputy Lucia Durant stepped out of the sheriff’s cruiser, sunlight sparking off the lenses of her aviators.
In the passenger side mirror, Demetrius saw Deputy Gayle Walsh get out and approach his truck as well.
Great, two against one. He powered down both windows but turned to Lucia as she came up the driver’s side.
“Hi, Lucia.”
“Demetrius.” She stood, feet apart, hands resting on her utility belt, her blond hair in a short ponytail. “Visiting Clarabell?”