Chapter 18: The Ghost of Route 9
The truck slowed to navigate a winding mountain pass. Chloe checked the landmarks against the rough map she had memorized. This was it. She waited for a sharp turn where the truck slowed to twenty miles an hour, then jumped. She hit the gravel shoulder hard, tumbling into the ditch, scraping her knees and elbows raw.
Limping, she struck out into the woods. The coordinates led her to an abandoned logging camp nestled deep in a craggy valley. Rusting machinery sat sinking into the mud. At the center of the camp stood a surprisingly well-maintained cabin, smoke curling lazily from its stone chimney. Chloe approached slowly, her hand gripping a heavy stone. She stepped onto the porch. Before she could even knock, the heavy wooden door swung open inward. The barrel of a shotgun was pointed directly at her face. Holding it was a man with a graying beard, his face scarred and weathered, his eyes cold and calculating.
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"You have five seconds to give me one good reason why I shouldn't pull this trigger," the man rasped.
Chloe held up her empty hands. "My name is Chloe. Lilith Pierce is my mother. She said you owe her a ghost."
