Samantha waited until he had regained his composure to slowly pull away. She nudged the unclaimed cup of coffee toward him. "Take a drink. It'll help."

  He did as he was told, letting the warmth ease away some of the ache in his chest. The bitter liquid reminded him how thirsty he was, so he pushed the cup aside.

  "Can I have a glass of water?"

  Hector filled a glass from the tap and passed it over. Adam drained it in one long gulp, then paused to gather his thoughts.

  "We should probably start boiling the water soon. Just to be safe," Natalie said.

  Adam regarded the glass he'd just finished and then pushed it across the counter.

  "No, no. There's still pressure, so it's probably still okay. But another few days without power at the water treatment facility and there could be problems."

  "Adam," Samantha coaxed, raising an eyebrow at Natalie. "Tell us what happened."

  He stared across the counter, a million miles away for a moment, then he sighed.

  "Well, first a creature made of corpses tried to crush me," Adam began. "Then the darkness in the hospital tried to trap me in a waking dream. After that, something attempted to amputate my shadow. Hector and I nearly burned to death, and then I thought corpse monster round two was going to eat us alive." He took a deep breath, his outburst leaving him feeling a little winded. "That should about sum it up."

  Hector raised his bandaged hand.

  "Oh. And Hector lost his thumb," Adam added quickly.

  "Thanks for remembering," Hector replied, an air of irritation creeping into his accent.

  Natalie raised her eyebrows. “I know he lost a thumb. I bandaged his hand.”

  "Right," Adam said, taking another sip of the coffee and clearing his throat.

  "You were tortured?" Samantha asked, getting right back to the point. "Hector told us about the corpse mound, the darkness in the hospital, and the fire..." She trailed off as she turned to Hector, her eyes narrowing slightly. She looked like she was still deciding whether or not to trust him. "But he was pretty vague on the details when he found you."

  Hector set his cup down with a little too much force. "Yes. You barely know me, and I barely know you. Better you hear the story from a friend than a stranger."

  Adam nodded. "I can't disagree. It's better to hear it from someone you know."

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  Hector gave a small nod, and Natalie rolled her eyes, clearly irritated but not pressing it.

  "I found the supplies near the operating rooms," Adam said, easing back into the story, but trying not to fully submerge himself in the memory. "My light went out... and the next thing I knew, I woke up hanging from the ceiling."

  "Someone knocked you out and hung you from the ceiling?" Samantha asked, her tone full of disbelief. Natalie opened her mouth like she wanted to interject, then thought better of it.

  "Some thing," Adam corrected, staring at his hands. The bruises on his wrists had nearly faded, leaving only a vague yellow stain as evidence.

  "It was shaped like a person. At least at first. It shone some kind of dim light on me and cast my shadow on the wall."

  "Some thing?" Natalie said, her expression growing troubled. "Some kind of creature hung you from the ceiling? Are you saying it was intelligent? That it had some kind of plan?"

  Adam raised his hand over the counter, the overhead light just bright enough to cast a faint shadow on the surface. He thought about what the thing had said, about shadows being enslaved, their entire existence dictated by whoever they were attached to. He could still feel it, like an echo of a touch that had never fully left him.

  He shuddered and looked away.

  He couldn't tell them, couldn't unload that particular piece of existential horror. Not yet. Maybe not ever. Some truths, he figured, weren't meant for the light of day.

  "Yeah. Something," he repeated. "It spoke, but didn't make much sense." He kept his eyes low, trying to surround the lie with enough truth to let it slip past. "Then it started cutting." He touched his cheek. "And I started bleeding."

  He risked a glance upward. Samantha was watching him closely, and he could almost see the gears turning behind her eyes. She was always drinking in information, always fitting it together like a puzzle only she could see. Adam had the uneasy feeling she was piecing together more than he wanted her to.

  "Adam, it didn't look like you were just cut," Natalie said, glancing at Hector. "Hector's thumb looked like a clean slice, like any industrial accident I've seen. But your face..." She frowned, her brow furrowing. "It looked more like something was being pulled through your skin. I don't know how else to explain it."

  Adam tried to keep his expression neutral, but Samantha was still staring at him, unblinking. He was almost certain she was seconds away from catching his deflection.

  "Then Hector burst in," Adam added, a little too quickly.

  Without missing a beat, Hector jumped in. "I saw it. The Shadowman. El Cuco. He was cutting Adam's face."

  "What is El Cuco?" Samantha asked, turning her attention away from Adam.

  "Ahh, it's..." He paused, searching for the right words. "I think it’s called... 'The Booger Man'?"

  Adam let out a barking laugh, making all three of the others jump.

  "Really?" Natalie chided, but Adam saw the corner of her mouth twitch as she fought a smile. "Do you mean The Boogeyman?"

  "Yes, that's it." Hector pointed an accusatory finger at Adam. "I don't see you speaking another language."

  Adam raised his hands in surrender, conceding the point.

  "It didn't like the light, and..." Hector traced a small halo with his finger.

  "And... How did the hospital burn down?" Natalie asked, clearly skeptical.

  Hector shrugged. "I needed more light."

  Adam took another sip of his now-lukewarm coffee, staring at Hector with pity.

  "You needed more light?!" Natalie's voice rose, and Adam couldn't tell if her outrage was genuine or for effect. Her eyebrows climbed so high he thought they might merge with her hairline. "You needed more light, so you burned down the hospital?"

  Hector gave a helpless look and shrugged again.

  "Jesus Christ." Natalie rubbed at her temples and Adam noticed Samantha's gaze hadn't left Hector.

  "Hector," she said, her voice low, "why do we feel so comfortable around you?"