Clare had been surprised
when Max had called, mostly because she didn’t remember giving out him her
number. Still, hearing his voice again
hadn’t really been all that bad.
“So, I have something
that might interest you.” He sounded as
smarmy as ever.
“If it’s another night
with the Max Meister, I’ve done my charity work this year.” Clare did her best to keep it cool. Hard to get worked for her, and in Max’s
case, she wasn’t going to make it easy.
“Wow, ouch!” He laughed.
“No, this is work related.”
“Max, I’m not going to
put my company on your TV show.” She
sighed. He had proposed the idea a few
times during the conference after their little run in with the succubus, and
she had shot him down every time.
“Even if this is right up
your alley?” He was roping her in. “I’m not pulling your leg here, Clare. This is the real deal. Right in your wheelhouse. Honest to God demonic, and possible cult,
activity.”
He had her hooked. “So, what it is it?”
“You ever hear of Fantasy
Land?”
She had. It was an old theme park about two hours
north of Chicago. She had been there a
few times as a child, and even then the place was run down and creepy.
“Well, apparently they’ve
had some odd occurrences on one of their rides.
The Fantasy Land Cruise.” He
paused, and Clare could hear the sound of papers shuffling on the other end. “Apparently a couple from the local college went
missing after they broke into the park one night. Security footage shows them taking one of
the boats, and taking it for a late night cruise.”
Clare remembered the ride
Max was talking about. It was
constructed around a real river and lake in the area, and featured scenes from
a small elf village played out in the surrounding woods. The centerpiece was the Elf Temple, a giant,
almost Aztec looking structure in the middle of the lake. Even as a child Clare had thought the temple
had looked out of place, but other people seemed to love it.
“Well, when they got to
the temple they opted for a little late night swim, and…” Max paused for
effect.
“And what?” Clare didn’t have time for his
theatrics.
“And the security cameras
cut out. All of them. Five in total, in the Elf Temple lake alone. When they come back on the couple is gone,
the boat is back in the dock, and any trace that they had even been there is
gone.” He paused. “There was one thing, though.”
“Max, cut with the
dramatic pauses, please.” She was
getting frustrated. “We aren’t cutting
to commercial here.”
“Sorry, habit.” He laughed.
“There were traces of demonic residue on the temple, and one of the elf
figures.”
“Demonic residue? You
mean tentacle slime.” She couldn’t stand
technical terms.
“Bingo.” Another dramatic
pause. “So, are you in?”
“Tell me when and
were.”
“Perfect.”
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