Page 147 of The Midnight Knock

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“They spent too long trapped here against their will,” Hunter said. “Even longer than us.”

i decided to try something new

i allowed Jack Allen to find me

i gave him a sliver of my power

but when the new ceremony began

i concealed the dead child and her sister

to ensure she was never found

every night Jack Allen would cull the rest of you

thinking he could break the circle

giving no one else the opportunity

to learn what was happening here

no one

i thought

would break the circle again

Ethan shuddered at the wordcull. He thought of what Jack Allen had told him in the diner today about being unable to find Penelope and Adeline in all his many nights at the motel. He looked to where Fernanda had crouched over Adeline. He said to Te’lo’hi, “Are you the reason Penelope’s sister was stuck to her like a shadow?”

yes

i could see that in many stories

i would be unable to guide enough souls to the motel tonight

the new ceremony would not have had the power it needed

so when Adeline died,

i did not allow her soul to escape

I bound her to her sister

slumbering

until she awoke today

Hunter frowned at this, a look of sincere pain crossing his face.

He killed families, Mister Cross.

Ethan said to Hunter, “Every night at six thirty, on that smoke break with Ryan, you always remembered what was happening, didn’t you? You remembered that you killed Sarah the first night and got us all trapped here.”

“Yes.”

“Why? Why keep it going?”

“To save the world. Why else?”

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