Vacations From Hell by Claudia Gray, Cassandra Clare, Maureen Johnson, Libba Bray, Sarah Mlynowski Page A

the ear. My cousin was in the closet. She had hung herself with the…the tie…from around the waist of her dressing gown. This was three days ago.”
    I remembered the police car and the ambulance. That must have been the house. We had gone right past it and had no idea.
    “The police thought she had perhaps gone insane, gone into a jealous rage, but I knew my cousin. There was nothing wrong with her until she read that story. I do not know how this works or why. The Law of Suspects story is real, and I brought eet back by bringing those papers here. I wasn’t able to get back into the house for a day, but when I did…the papers were nowhere. I asked the police eef they had taken them, but they had not. I remembered that the psychologist claimed the story would be passed on before death. I thought my cousin had posted the papers to someone. For the last two days I have watched her friends. I saw Henri in the village this morning, picking up some post. Later I went along to his house. I saw you there. I saw him fresh from the garden, acting very strange. I went to the garden while you were inside with him. I found this….”
    He gestured toward the plastic-covered hand.
    “I have not seen his wife. Have you?”
    “No,” I said, managing to find my voice. “He said he was looking for his dog.”
    “His dog,” he said, nodding. “Yes. That makes sense. The dog was always with his wife. When he attacked her, I imagine the dog tried to stop him. The dog must also be dead.”
    “So you’re saying,” I said, “that Henri is infected by some story in a letter , and he killed his wife.”
    “I do not want to believe eet myself. But my cousin and her husband are dead. And Henri has just buried a body in his garden. And he has told you a story exactly as I described. The next steps are clear. Henri will die, and either you or your sister will be infected. It can only be one. Before the night is over, one will kill the other, and then commit suicide.”
    This was not possible. None of it was possible. But there was a hand. And I remembered how I felt after Henri spoke to me. It wasn’t right. It wasn’t normal . Something had happened.
    “According to his notes,” he said, “there is a way. There have been cases where people have been spared because they went to safety, or were alone. You must both put yourself in a place where you cannot hurt anyone.”
    A silence fell between us. From far away, I heard Marylou calling for me. This brought me back to the reality of being in the woods with Gerard and the hand.
    “Please, Charlie,” he begged, getting up. “Do notgo back. Look. I have…I have water and food. Here. Enough for one night.”
    More things were produced from the bag. A bottle of water. Some candy bars. A small flashlight. He set the food on the ground and pressed the flashlight into my hand.
    “Henri knows what he has done. He has passed the story on. His time is ending. Eef you go now, eef you can get through until morning, then you will be fine. You simply need to be isolated. Take these things and spend the night out here, as far from the house as you can get. As far from the village. You get lost.”
    “Oh,” I said, laughing now. “I see. I get lost in the woods for the night. Sounds great, Gerard. Sounds like a plan. And why did you have to tell this to me out here?”
    “Your sister would not believe me,” he said simply. “But I felt you would. I hope you do.”
    The sky had gotten darker and the air soupier. The storm Henri had promised earlier was sitting on top of us, waiting to erupt. I stared at the water and the candy. Food that had been in a bag with a severed hand.
    “You’re right about one thing,” I said. “We need to get out of here.”
    I turned and started walking back. I heard Gerard calling to me, pleading. But I kept going. He did not follow me.
    As I pushed back through the branches, following the sound of Marylou’s voice to the house, I assessed my situation.