26. || one's on the way.

"You need to leave, Boots." There was an anger in River's voice that Finley hadn't heard before and it cracked beneath the force of the words they spat out. "Get off this mountain and go."

"River," their name trembled in Finley's throat again, "I can't. I'm—"

"You are my debt to this mountain. You need to leave." Turning to face her finally, they dropped the hatchet next to the boy's severed head. That strange dark hue of blood she had seen spilling from Béla deep within the mine coated River from head to toe. Their own still bled bright red, dripping from the gash in their head down the slope of their cheeks to the hardened edges of their lips where just hours ago they had shown nothing but tenderness towards her. To see them like this now, drenched in violence, it didn't feel real, and yet, they had warned her.

But this wasn't their violence.

River reached up to their neck for the buckskin cord that held Finley's diamond ring and lifted it over their head. As they stepped towards her, she felt her body retreat. She shrunk behind a skinny pine, even though her head knew better. Her heart knew better. Even if they both were at opposing ends of this blood soaked curse, she knew River would never hurt her nor would she hurt them. But she feared what Buckmouse had told her could be true, that River was just the bait, and her body remembered fear regardless of its source.

And River seemed to recognize it on her face because their boots came to a stop. The shame in their dark eyes deepened to an anger that matched their voice, but they aimed it away from her, fixed to the hemlock once more. Tossing the diamond in her direction, they turned their back on her to walk to the tree and took a seat upon its roots. Within the hemlock's shadow, the blonde woman—Vera appeared, but remained in the cover of darkness.

No, this wasn't their violence. And she wasn't their debt.

Finley crouched to pick up the diamond and could feel the familiar rumble beneath her feet.

"Go!" River shouted. "Now!"

A tear slid down her cheek, burning her skin as it dried in the cold air. But she didn't wait for another to fall. Her body fully took over, feet in control, pounding over upturned limestone and wet mudded earth as she ran in between the pines and silver maples and down the mountain to River's jeep.

The engine clicked and sputtered and stalled until finally it turned over and the wheels squelched with a jerk forward. Last night's storm had torn up the dirt road, washing it away in sections, but the jeep maneuvered up and over the ruts and twisted roots that crossed its path til finally she let it roll to a stop in the dip of the valley where she was sure the boundary would bounce her back.

But even as the garnet ring glowed red on her finger, no boundary burned her body as it had at the wreckage of Devil's Elbow. She inched the jeep forward into town, unsure how much farther to go or where to even stop until she saw the parking lot for the Deerjaw.

As Finley walked through the door, Johnny Cash sang through a cloud of cigarette smoke. Dim amber lights wrapped in antlers hung over the front bar, highlighting a man in a baseball cap with blood dripping down the side of his head and face, smoking on a stool. Finley rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn't seeing things, but he was truly there amongst a few other patrons who paid him no mind. And then Blaire popped out from the back wearing a low-cut crop top with angel wings strapped to her back and a gold pipe-cleaner halo atop her beautiful blonde curls.

Somehow, Finley had forgotten it was Halloween.

"Hey sugar, c'mon in and have a seat." Blaire's eyes searched behind her. "I thought I heard the jeep pull in. Where's..." But she seemed to figure it out without Finley having to say a word. "Good Lord, already? She sure knows how to sour somethin' sweet." Blaire let out a disheartened sigh and tapped the counter. "Looks like your drinks are goin' on River's tab. What can I get ya?"

"I uh, I probably shouldn't drink tonight," Finley said as she sat down, noticing the ring on her finger's soft red glow. "And it's not River's fault—"

The man covered in blood leaned over the bar, cigarette pressed between the curl of his lips. "If it's goin' on River's tab, I'll take one of them fancy whiskeys you're always makin' for him."

Blaire plucked the cigarette from his lips and placed it between her own, taking a long drag as she grabbed from the well and poured out a cheap whiskey on the rocks. She topped it off with a little pink umbrella and slid it his way. His smile turned quick to a frown, but he laid down a five dollar bill, tipped his cap, and took the hint and his drink to a table along the back.

Exhaling a plume of smoke with a chuckle, Blaire squashed out the cigarette.

"What kinda whiskey was he talking about?"

"An Old Fashioned," Blaire answered with a smirk. "Pretty spot on for River, huh? She had to show me how to make 'em when I first took over the bar." Holding up an orange, she grabbed a knife. "You want one?"

Blaire had that kinda smile that immediately made you smile back no matter how you were feeling inside. It was evident by the way she spoke about River how much love she still had for them. And with her sweet, but take-no-shit attitude, it was easy to see why they'd found each other.

Finley shook her head no, returning her smile. "But thank you anyway. I nearly went off-roadin' with River's jeep just coming down the mountain sober."

"That damn jeep's a rusty coffin on wheels. You oughta get Danny to look at it while River's not around to bitch." She laughed and nodded to the bloody guy in the cap. "Course, I got no room to talk. If one more light pops up on my truck's dash, I'm gonna have to finally go home with him one of these nights."

Finley turned to look at Danny as he sipped his cheap whiskey and poked the ice around with the pink umbrella. "He's not too bad looking."

Blaire leaned down close with that smile again. "He's not exactly my type." As the bar's door pushed open, her eyes left Danny to watch the group of bikers that walked in. They all hollered friendly hellos and Blaire raised her fingers to wave. Standing back up, she scooped some ice into a glass and filled it with water, then slid it over to Finley. "Can't believe River's missing Halloween. It's her favorite."

Finley thought about that for a second as she sipped the water, considering the holiday's origin in the old country. If River truly was some kinda demon, the mountain's boundaries would be weakened and they'd be free to wander for the day. Just like the dead.

"Blaire, did you know River was..." But she couldn't find the right words to ask about the curse that wouldn't make her sound crazy. She just hoped Blaire knew what she meant.

"Oh sugar, you're not the first and probably won't be the last. She had a shaved head when I met her twenty-some years ago. Thought she was just some skinny farmhand. Hell, I didn't even realize til the morning after. Course, didn't much care at that point either if I'm bein' honest."

"Oh, no," Finley smiled, looking down into her glass, "that's not what I meant." But she could tell by the confused look on Blaire's face she wasn't aware of River's connection to the mountain or demons or any kinda curse. "It's actually not that important. I'm not even sure why I'm here."

"Well, ya don't need a reason." Blaire squeezed her shoulder, looking towards the door again as a couple came in and sat a few seats away. She greeted them by name and slid two Yuenglings their way. The evening crowd began to filter in and each time the door opened, Blaire's eyes darted to it. Maybe she was still expecting River to walk through, but there was a strain in her neck every time she turned towards the entrance. Flipping up the bar top, she nodded to Finley. "C'mon, I gotta grab some ice. Could use an extra hand."

As Finley followed her towards the kitchen, Blaire pulled her into the office and shut the door.

"Listen hun, I don't know what your situation is and I certainly don't make it my business to neb, but just the other evenin' an outta town Mercedes went down over Devil's Elbow and a woman came in here with a photo of you on her phone, askin' if I'd seen ya around. Said she was your sister."

Finley could feel her blood run cold and it must've drained from her face because Blaire grabbed her shoulders and sat her down at the desk.

"I wouldn'ta told her anything even if I had seen ya that night. Somethin' about her askin' just seemed off. And then she got River all tangled up in a fight with a couple of young men who've gone missin' now. I—"

"She spoke to River?" Finley dug her thumbnail into the skin of her hand. She could feel the worms starting to crawl. "Does River know she was looking for me?"

"I don't believe so. I didn't really think twice about it til I saw ya the morning after at the bottom of River's porch. Figured at that point, I'd keep it to myself til I had a chance to talk to ya woman to woman. River tends to be a mite reactive, for better or worse."

Finley buried her head in her hands. Reactive was right. Her mind kept bouncing from thought to thought, back to the image of the headless body twitching at River's feet. "You said the guys are missing now? Was one of them wearing a white polo with khakis?"

"Both, I think. Real preppy, clean-shaven. Their folks own that company that's drillin' on Hart's Content."

Just the mention of the lodge got those worms all riled up. Finley hugged her arms around her waist, trying real hard not to itch at the squirming bodies beneath her skin. She could feel them wriggling in her stomach now.

"It's Finley, right?" Blaire asked. It was the first she'd heard her name come from someone other than a bony, undead, Not-Deer named Buckmouse. "If someone's tryin' to hurt ya, we can find a safehouse somewhere, maybe somethin' closer to the city."

"I've already tried. I was kicked out the first time. Refused the second when they learned who my ex was. I'd just be wasting space and resources anyway." Finley shook her head. "I'm dead already, Blaire. I veered us off that cliff intentionally."

Blaire was quiet a moment. She turned to look at a picture frame on her desk that held a photo of her with her sister Finley assumed. They looked so much alike they could've been twins. Kneeling down, Blaire leaned on Finley's knees to look her in the eye. "Ya did what ya had to do to survive. And you're gonna keep on doin' it. You ain't dead. Not til you're six feet in the ground. And hell, even then, that mountain may surprise you if you can believe any them stories."

Finley nodded, chewing her lip. Blaire was right. This didn't change anything. She knew the Demon was out there, likely keeping to the lodge and its own boundaries. But if it had anything to do with that fracking quake and what had followed, it was getting closer to finding her.

"Ya know, I sorta named the bar after your grandpap Emery. He worked with my dad building the new dam, taught him everything he knew, and they got to be real good huntin' buddies too. When my dad died, Emery was real sweet and brought over photos and trinkets they was always findin' together. One happened to be a carved up deer jaw. Hence the bar's name."

Finley's back straightened in the chair. "Do you still have it?"

"Hangin' directly above the bar. Thought maybe it'd bring me some luck, but I swear the damn thing's cursed."

"It is. And I need it." Finley pulled the diamond from her pocket and Blaire's eyes widened as it dangled from the cord in front of her. "Are you interested in a trade?"

Taking the ring, Blaire didn't have to look it over too hard. With her brow cocked, she glanced back up. "You tellin' me that rot-toothed, hunk of bone is worth the same as a four carat diamond ring?"

"It is to me," Finley replied. "It's for River, actually." Light refracted off all fifty brilliant facets and Finley had to wonder if maybe she'd been wrong about which ring was truly cursed. "Pawn it off quickly, you should be able to get at least thirty for it."

Blaire's eyes shifted from Finley to the diamond a couple more times before she finally looped the cord around her neck and slid the ring down in between her freckled breasts. "You just wait here, I'll get ya that ol' jaw bone."

She was barely down the hall before Finley heard her yelling for Danny to hop up on a stool and take down the bone. Finley peeked around the corner of the office, watching as he grumbled and complained and wobbled on the tip of his boots reaching for it, all with a smile on his face and another cigarette between his lips. As he hopped down, the county sheriff walked through the door and Finley ducked back into the office.

Blaire slipped around the door seconds later and held out the bone. The garnet ring began to glow and emit a heat down through Finley's finger as she took it in her hand to look it over. There was nothing special about its toothy jaw except the weaved grooves where it had been bound with River's hair to the hemlock sprig.

The end of the curse felt near, but so did the Demon.

"Thank you, Blaire."

"Mhmm..." Blaire's eyes hovered over the garnet ring. "This have anything to do with that ol' hemlock witch that's got River all spooked?"

"Afraid so," Finley replied, stepping towards the door.

"C'mon, I'll walk ya out the back so we can avoid the Sheriff and anyone else that might be watchin' for ya."

Blaire led her out to the parking lot and walked her all the way to the jeep. Crisp leaves crunched beneath their feet, echoing into the quiet night air. From the ring on her finger to the flutter in her belly, Finley could feel the mountain's pull like a warning.

Blaire scanned the rows of empty trucks and beater cars in the lot. "Are ya gonna be all right?"

"I'm gonna have to be," Finley answered as she peered into the back of the jeep. River's rifle and the axe still laid in the trunk. "At least for River's sake." Climbing into the driver's seat, she turned back towards Blaire. "River probably wouldn't want me saying this, but if they could, they'd be down here with you every night."

Blaire laughed softly, eyes still sharp. "Maybe. But we were only ever just friends. Really good friends, but friends who want very different things. Kids, for one."

A flutter rippled through Finley's belly again. "Really? And you..."

She shook her head no, laughing again as she glanced over her shoulder. "She'd make a really good dad."

And it seemed like Blaire knew something Finley still hadn't let herself come to terms with. That maybe those worms crawling beneath her skin, making their way to her belly, maybe they were turning into something else.

But she pushed it from her mind again, setting the jawbone on the passenger's seat. "There's an auto repair shop next to Busty's, fully run by a sweet, butch woman. She's very thorough. If you wanna get your truck looked at."

Blaire smirked as she toyed with the cord around her neck, diamond still tucked away safe. "I haven't been out that way in some time. Might be worth the drive." As headlights beamed over the parking lot, her face grew serious again. "You'ns be careful messin' with that witch on Halloween. Last time someone pissed her off, she burnt down that church on the other side of the dam. The mine, the dam, and the church, all cursed by her."

Or she was looking for the talismans, Finley thought. "Are the ruins still there?"

"Nah, that's where them flatlanders built that trophy huntin' lodge. Two thousand acres for pennies 'cause none of us locals dared to touch that land. Your grandpap never told ya? They had to get his permission to put up a fence, but he pure out refused. I don't know for certain, but we all seem to think they bought your mama out."

"That would explain how she got the money to let him die in a home."

"Finley, your mama had her troubles, but they took advantage of her. They take advantage of all us hill women one way or another."

"I know..." Finley cupped her stomach, feeling those flutters tugging her back to the mountain. "Blaire? If that woman comes in again, will you let me know?"

Blaire nodded. "She's not your sister, is she?"

And it didn't seem she wasn't looking for an answer so much, just a confirmation of what she already knew.