He didn't miss my birthday.

I really wish I could say I'd been doing something more interesting that picking up groceries from the store at the time... but that's all it was. Just an "essentials run." I'd been on my way back to the hotel when a crawl crept up my spine and that familiar urge to laugh backed up in my throat. Instinct alone snapped my head around... and then I saw Him standing at the mouth of an alley across the road.

I froze there amongst the flow of people, my entire body bristling in nerves after so long of... relaxing. Of Him not being there. I'd grown too lax in His Game. But I had no sooner looked at Him, when He simply turned and walked down the alley. He had almost disappeared from sight when a voice spoke in my head. Not His. It was never His. It was always just me giving a voice to the thoughts He'd bring to the surface. Me in a mental battle with myself. Certain to end well, hm? But this wasn't even THAT. This was an all too familiar voice. One that made me feel like I'd been stabbed, and the blade twisted sideways: Hailey's.

"Mishowwl. Come play with Us, Mishowwl."

I bolted.

I ran as fast I damn well could back to the hotel. Back to Valerie. I kept thinking about all those goddamn comments on her blog. A thousand and one images flashes through my head of the different scenarios I could walk in on. I hadn't been gone for TWENTY MINUTES, but everything in my head painted the room we were in with a lake of blood. Showing me her innards as decoration. Showing me her corpse. The hollow, dead eyes...

Then I burst through the front door... and scared the living crap out of Valerie. Who had been reading.

I... feel like a total moron now.

When she stopped looking like she was going to drop dead of a heart attack, she demanded an explanation. Which I gave and she immediately began to pack up. I'm not sure how much good it'll do, but we moved locations overnight. Certainly can't hurt. During this, she got a phone call from someone we've been trying to contact who was known to hang out with Corey. Things seem to check out. It's not much, but it is a lead. I've spent all of today researching as far as I can go. I had to stay distracted, which is why I'm only posting this tonight. Hopefully we've caught onto something here.

If one digs deep enough... you're bound to hit a rock eventually... right?