Jonah stood outside room 400, clutching the book he had found firmly under his arm. He didn’t want to knock on the door. He knew once he walked through that door he would have to face questions he had been avoiding his entire life. He rubbed his eyes, pinning the frame of his glasses against his forehead. The horrific images of the small animals losing their teeth over and over felt seared into his brain. The eeriness of last night from the dog, to Ash, to the book randomly arriving on his back porch, pushed him to question a lot of things. Maybe there is a God. Maybe Samson had met the devil himself. Maybe there was a chance he could see his brother again.

But he hoped more than anything that he was grieving, and his thoughts were garbled by all the noise of the last few days. He tapped the door with the back of his wrist. The knock was quiet enough to almost not be heard. After minute he attempted to knock again but was stopped short as Ash quickly open the door. Her hair was wet, and she was wearing hard rimmed black glasses that took up most of her face. Her shoes were off, and her nails were painted in a fresh shade of green. She had a red washcloth clutched in her left hand. She dabbed her neck.

“I was in the shower,” she said, sounding slightly out of breath.

“Are you okay?” He asked softly.

“Yeah, I am still a little shell-shocked. Come in,” she said, stepping out of the way.

Jonah walked in the room. He was surprised to see that the room was nearly spotless. No bags, no food, nothing. The only thing in the room that showed it had been lived in was the bed. The comforter was wrapped at the base of the bed looking as if she had fallen out in the night and remained there till the morning. His spine crawled seeing the splotches of sweat that had accumulated on the white sheet in nearly the exact same locations as his own. He set the book down on the table and turned back to her.

“Sleeping well?” He asked, trying to break the ice.

She laughed nervously under her breath but didn’t answer the question. She walked back to her nightstand and poured some coffee into a small paper cup. She tapped the pot gingerly with her fingernail.

“Do you want some coffee?” She asked.

“I am fine. I prefer tea, it is more soothing,” he said, trying not to look at the bed.

She smiled and took a very long gulp out of the cup. She looked over at the book resting on the corner of the desk.

“What made you change your mind?”

“Too many coincidences, I guess. Samson’s death…or I guess disappearance. Also, you’ll think this is crazy, there was this dog, I almost thought it was a wolf it was so large,” he said, warming up.

She spit a little bit of coffee back into the cup.

“Was it black?” She asked hoarsely.

“Yes, it was. How-”

As he was finishing his sentence, she bolted over to the window and peered out, quickly shutting the curtains and rubbing her fingers deep into her temple.

“Ashlyn what is wrong?” He asked.

“I am sure a big black dog is the thing that attacked me last night. I had just checked in here and I was taking an Uber over to your place. The guy blew a tire about four blocks from your house. I remember paying him for the trip and just opting to walk the rest of the way. I had made it about two blocks when I felt like something was following me. It felt like a hot light on the back of my neck and I could hear soft scrapes on the ground digging into the grass. I thought it might be a cat or something. Then something hit me hard. The next thing I remember was waking up on your couch.”

Jonah shrugged awkwardly, folding his hands around his knee.

“Do you think Saint sent a dog from hell to attack us?” She asked, still rubbing her temple.

“Honestly Ashlyn, I am still on the fence if this Saint person even exists.”

“You said it yourself. Too many coincidences! We both saw the dog. We both got the letter. What more proof do you need!” She snapped.

He could feel her getting agitated and held his hands up in a poor attempt to calm her down.

“I did say that, and I won’t argue with you that is a lot of coincidences, but I am wondering if both of us aren’t thinking correctly. You clearly cared about my brother deeply so his…passing might be causing you to thrash at shadows to blur out the nightmares.”

She crossed her arms and inhaled for what seemed like an eternity.

“Why do you think I am having nightmares?” She asked sadly.

“Because my bed looks a lot like yours. I would almost say exactly like yours.”

“What was your nightmare?”

“I was in this desert and these rodents and small creatures kept lifting their heads out of the ground-”

She let out a small gasp.

“What color was the sand and dirt?” She said, barely opening her lips to let the words out.

“Gray-” he responded before she cut him off again.

“The rodents lose their teeth, don’t they? And it mixes with dirt-”

“And it creates new sand,” Jonah said, finishing her thought.

They both stared the other. Both too afraid to ask the other about anything else. Jonah removed his glasses and wiped them clean.

“I read the book,” he said, attempting to change the subject.

“The mason’s?” She asked taking another sip of coffee.

“Yes, quite a tale,” he mumbled.

“Let me guess, you don’t believe it,” she asked with contempt.

“What is written here is religious fiction like the exorcism of Emily Rose. But it is not real,” he responded, doing his best not to engage in a fight.

“You’re a professor, aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

“What is your specialty?” She asked.

“Prewar American history. So yes, I know where you are going, I do know a lot about the time this book was written. I will give the author credit that the names of areas and the looming concepts involved in the hopelessness of the old west were definitely prevalent, there has been no account of demon women causing terror on the land.”

“Have you ever heard of this encounter?”

“No. But-”

“I looked it up. No copies can be found anywhere. Just as there is no record of the Mason Alcazar-”

“Exactly so this book is a copy of some story a new author trying to sell it as real,” he said cutting her off.

“Who is the author then?” She asked.

“I don’t know, I think that is the point,” he responded dismissively.

“Why are you trying to find problems with this?” She growled.

“Alright let’s say it is real. It doesn’t bring us any closer to finding Samson,” he growled back.

Ash finished the last little bit of coffee, flicking the Styrofoam cup onto the bed, turning her head from Jonah.

“What about the other book?” She asked more calmly

“What other book? That is the only book I found on my porch,” Jonah said coldly.

“In the letter, Samson said he had two books for you. The mason’s journal and his,” she responded sharply.

Jonah rubbed his eyes hard.

“I don’t know what to tell you Ashlyn. All I have is the one book.”

She pulled the turquoise streaks in her hair, slowly pacing the floor. She turned back to him.

“Maybe Samson put something in the letter,” she said hopefully.

She opened the top drawer to the nightstand next to the bed and took out another copy of the letter. Jonah sighed.

“You made copies?”

“Yes, in case I lost one in the travel.”

She unfolded the letter and paged through it a several times.

“See, right here!” She shouted.

She handed the letter back to Jonah who took it reluctantly.

“Right here he talks about salmon and trout. I have no idea what he is talking about.”

Jonah paged over the letter for a bit before tossing it on the pillow.

“Sorry Ashlyn I don’t know what he means either.”

She took off her glasses and sat on the bed, folding her arms.

“Maybe you’re right. Maybe he is dead.”

Jonah sighed and sat with her as she continued to spin her glasses in a circle.

“How did you come by the letter?” He asked her comfortingly.

“I went for a run after I heard the news about Samson. I was gone for maybe an hour or so and when I returned there was a pile of rocks outside my house. The mail guy must have set them cause I sure didn’t. On top of the rocks was a box with the book and letters in it.”

Jonah bit his lip.

“Was it on the front of your house or the back?” He asked quickly.

“The front, I saw it right after my run. Why?”

“I don’t know. It’s just…”

He stood up and clutched the paper off the pillow.

“You found your box in the front of your house, on a pile of rocks, in the desert. I found my box under some brush, in the back of my house, in the forest. Samson mentioned both salmon and trout. It is just impossible.”

“Care to share?” she said with a hint of annoyance.

“The university library. This year they decided to do a little fun for Earth Day. They redesigned the library to look like global ecosystem. The desert and mountains are in the front of the library. The vines and thick forest are in the back of the library. In the basement there is a trout room and a salmon room in the upper levels.”

Ash smiled bigger than Jonah had seen in a long time.

“That must be where he is keeping his journal. What better place to hide a book than in a library?”

Jonah stood up shaking his head vigorously.

“This is insane! Do you realize that? We are suggesting that my brother, who is dead, somehow flew out to Boston to plant a journal so you and I would go on a scavenger hunt for it!”

“Maybe he was worried that this Saint person would-”

“What am I doing! I have a flight in a few hours to Arizona I still have to pack-” He shouted in a weak voice.

“Jonah this is what Samson wanted you to find!” She pleaded.

“No! He played head games with me when he was alive, I won’t let him do it to me in death!” Jonah barked.

Jonah grabbed the book and rushed out the door as Ash ran after him.

“Jonah please. I have my doubts as much as you do but I believe Samson-”

“What was my brother to you? Were you like a relapsed nun who feels bad that they weren’t there when the good father passed on!” He snapped.

“Screw you!” She screamed.

Jonah held up his hands.

“I am sorry. That was uncalled for. Just twenty-four hours ago I was preparing a presentation on the Reconstruction and now I am looking for my brother’s mystery journal. I just need to regain some sanity.”

He opened the door and froze, not even moving his hand off the doorknob. Ash walked over to him, confused by his change in behavior.

“Jonah-”

“Sheee!” He cut her off. “It’s back.”

She stood next to him, peering over his shoulder into the hallway. At the far end of the hallway was large black dog. It sat right in front of the elevators with its eyes rigidly focused on room 400. Jonah could feel his heart attempting to leap out of his chest. He gripped the knob tighter and tighter. He dropped the book to the floor and looked back at Ash.

“We are settling this right now. Grab the handset off the receiver. It is just some random stray and nothing more.”

She nodded and retreated back into the room. Jonah squared off. The dog sat still like a statue. If it wasn’t for an occasional blink, Jonah might have guessed the dog was a product of great taxidermy. He started to swing his other arm wildly while still keeping an iron grip on the door.

“Get outta here! Go on!” He yelled, trying to make his voice deeper than it naturally was.

The dog did not move. It didn’t even tilt its head at his attack. Ash returned with the handset, quickly handing it to Jonah. He aimed the hard plastic at the dog’s head. Taking a deep breath, he hurled the headset like a tomahawk. It spun and swung in the air heading directly for the dog. Jonah was sure it would duck or run, but it remained completely still. The handset met with the dog’s skull and the immediate shock of the connection shattered the plastic into pieces. The flying pieces looked like there was small plastic explosive device hidden in the handset that was detonated in front of the dog’s face. The dog didn’t move, remaining frozen, as the small pieces of plastic rained around it. From the back of its throat, a slow gurgle began to form that progressively turned into a loud growl. Even though this loud growl filled the hallway, the dog still remained stationary even its jaw. Jonah let out a gasp and slammed the door shut.

They both tripped over each other rushing to the bathroom. Jonah quickly shut the door as he ran over to the tub, pulling the shower rod off the wall and wedging it under the door. Ash clutched her stomach, slowly sinking to the floor. Jonah held his breath waiting for the worst. He saw Ash holding her stomach and he rushed over to assist here. She pointed to the red washcloth still draped over the side of the sink.

“Just a little overheated. Do you mind?

He nodded and quickly ran the cloth under some cold water. He wrung the cloth so tightly the water ran pale red. He handed it to her. She nodded in thanks and set the cloth on her head. The initial fear had died down, yet both were too afraid to vacate the bathroom. It was nearly an hour before Jonah finally broke the silence.

“Do you mind if I ask you a personal question?” He asked.

“Sure,” she responded with a slight pain in her voice.”

“How did you know Samson? Like what was your relationship with him?”

Jonah felt bad for even asking and was relived when she laughed.

“I was the church organist. Samson was…like my family. He called me when my Dad got sick and when I got…he just was very close to me for several years.”

“In all the years you knew him did he ever mention me?” He asked meekly.

Ash lowered her head, folding her hands across her belt.

“That is what I thought,” Jonah scoffed.

“He mentioned you constantly. Everyday he came into the church the first thing he would do is pray for you. I know it’s not what you were wanting but I believe he cared about you more than he cared about anyone,” she said sharply.

Jonah nodded as he put his glasses back on, pushing the tears out of his eyes. He unwedged the shower rod and peered out.

“Do you think the dog is gone?” He asked in a hushed voice.

“I think if it wanted to kill us, we would be dead,” she said with a grimace.

Jonah walked out into the room and peered through the peephole. The hallway was completely empty even the small shattered pieces of the headset weren’t on the carpet. Ash came out and Jonah nodded to her.

“Let’s check out the library.”