Chapter Thirty-One

Chapter Thirty-one

“I started doing some new mushrooms the night it all went down,” Mayfield said. “I’m writing a book, see, and I needed a little inspiration. But it was heavy stuff. Got lost in the visions for hours. I don’t remember when the big car arrived. They never knew I was there. I had parked my bike in the old groundskeeper’s shed.”

“What did you see?” Amelia asked.

“I thought I heard voices but I couldn’t be sure of anything. I was convinced I was traveling in another dimension. I remember trying to cook up some more mushrooms and then the earthquake hit. I thought it was the end of the world. The crack of doom, or whatever. I remember getting out of the room through the window. I had some crazy idea about escaping the apocalypse. I dunno. I was really flying.”

“Keep talking,” Gideon said.

Amelia shot him a warning look. The last thing they needed to do now was frighten Mayfield. Gideon did not appear to get the message. Fortunately, Mayfield was too weak and woozy to do anything except follow orders.

“When I got to the shed where I left the bike, I looked back. The flames were sweeping through one wing of the hotel. I saw people running to their cars. I took off. I swear I didn’t realize you and your friends were still inside. All I could think about was getting away. I was sure I was seeing the fires of hell.”

“I understand,” Amelia said.

“I got on the bike and gunned it. Don’t know why I didn’t crash. Just dumb luck, I guess. It took a few days for the mushrooms to wear off. By then you and your friends were long gone and there were all kinds of rumors going around the valley. A lot of folks were sure you and your pals had been doing drugs and set the hotel on fire.”

“You didn’t clarify things with the police, did you?” Gideon said, each word a shard of ice.

“No.” Mayfield groaned. “I should have but I couldn’t be sure of my own memories. Couldn’t separate the mushroom visions from reality. Everything was jumbled up together.”

“And you figured you’d be blamed for the fire,” Gideon added.

“Well, yeah.” Mayfield focused on Amelia. “But after I started listening to the podcast I was able to piece things together, at least somewhat. When I heard you had checked in at the Cactus Garden and were asking around for stories about the old hotel I decided to talk to you.”

“For five hundred bucks,” Gideon said.

“Just seemed like good business,” Mayfield said. “I’m sort of broke. But don’t worry, you two saved my life and I think I’ve finally nailed the plot of the book I’m writing, so I figure we’re even now. No charge.”

“No shit,” Gideon said.

He pulled into the driveway of the small clinic. Two medics greeted them with a gurney. They extracted Mayfield from the rear seat.

“We called in the Air Evac team,” one of them said. “They’re on the way.” He looked at Gideon. “Every cop on the force is on the way out to the old hotel right now, but the captain said to tell you two not to leave town until he’s had a chance to talk to you.”

“Understood,” Gideon said.

He climbed back into the front seat. Amelia watched the medics wheel the gurney through the glass doors of the clinic. She realized she could make out the energy prints on the sidewalk. Her senses were returning to normal. She could focus again.

“We have to go back out to the hotel,” she said. “Now. While it’s still night.”

Gideon started the engine and drove onto the main road. “I agree. I want to talk to the cops. But why are you so enthusiastic about the idea?”

“Because I need to get a look at the prints before the police have trampled all over them.”

Gideon shot her an unreadable look. “Are you sure you’re feeling okay?”

“Yep, I’m fine. You can relax, Gideon. You didn’t traumatize me tonight. Well, maybe a little, but only temporarily. I got sideswiped by that storm of energy you used to take down Deacon, didn’t I?”

Gideon drew a breath and exhaled deeply. “Yes. You did. You should have been…overwhelmed. Comatose. Like those three we left at the hotel.”

“Well, I’m not, so stop worrying. Here’s the interesting bit. It’s true you threw me straight into a nightmare, but in the process, you helped me recover a few memories. I remembered at least some of what happened after Pallas, Talia, and I walked into the lobby of the hotel seven months ago. Enough to be certain of one thing.”

“What?”

“I need to get back into that dream again. I’m pretty sure you’re the only one who can take me there.”

“No.” Gideon clenched the steering wheel. “Absolutely not.”

“We’ll talk about it later.”

“Forget it. We’ve got a more immediate problem. We need to get our story straight before we talk to the cops. We do not want to have the authorities blow us off or conclude we were anything other than innocent bystanders.”

“I agree. So how do you suggest we handle this?”

He told her.