Erik and Mark knocked on Dovecrest’s door, but there was no answer.
“Maybe he’s around back,” the pastor said.
The back of Dovecrest’s place butted directly against the deepest woods, and with only the light from inside his living room shining out, it was as dark as pitch. Mark took a small flashlight from his pocket and guided them around to the back.
The back door was open and swinging gently on its hinges in the breeze.
“That seems strange,” Erik said, and poked his head inside. “Why would he leave the door open?”
They called Dovecrest’s name and were debating whether or not to go inside when they heard the first gunshot. It was quickly followed by a second, a third, and more. The two men looked at each other and then towards the woods.
“This is probably the only place in the state where a cell phone won’t work,” Mark said. “We’d better take a look ourselves.”
Erik hoped that the pastor knew his way through the woods better than he did. Mark hurried to the edge of the woods and located a path leading in.
“I used to be a Boy Scout,” Mark said.
Tentatively, Erik followed.
The pastor’s flashlight was small but very powerful, lighting up the woods just enough so that they could follow the path. There were more gunshots, quick and in rapid succession, but it seemed that the pastor had already locked in on the sound and was heading towards it. They struggled forward through the woods for several minutes, then Mark stopped.
“Wait, I hear something.”
Erik pulled up beside him and listened. Someone was heading towards them.
“Who’s there?” Erik said.
Suddenly, Dovecrest crashed through the bushes, nearly knocking them both down. The pastor’s flashlight shone full in his face. His eyes were wider than saucers, and his brow was contorted with a look of outright terror. Erik didn’t think he had ever seen such a look of panic on a face before.
He locked his arms around Dovecrest and the two of them fell to the ground in a heap. Dovecrest struggled to get up, but Erik, with Mark’s help, held him down.
“Relax,” Mark said in his best soothing preacher’s voice. “What’s going on.”
Dovecrest struggled for a moment more, then looked at the two men as if seeing them for the first time.
“It’s…it’s gone now,” he said, finally. “It was so…awful, but it’s gone.”
“What’s gone?” Erik asked, and Dovecrest looked at him as if he were a complete idiot.
“Come on,” Pastor Mark said. “Let’s get you back home and then you can explain everything.”
Dovecrest nodded slowly. “I have to tell someone,” he said. “Even if you don’t believe me.”