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that. Kyle just seemed so much cooler than the other people in town. Everyone else was so caught up in their silly cliques or whatever—it was all just so phony.
    But Kyle had never been phony. She really liked that.
    So why did he turn out to be a killer?
    No. Caitlin refused to believe it. She just saw him. There was no way that Kyle could have killed his own mother.
    And yet there was Officer Henry putting a tag on a bag that held a bloody pair of scissors. And Mrs. Walsh being put in a bag by the paramedics. And Kyle sitting, wrapped in a blanket that one of the cops had given him, looking just as dead as his mother, in total shock.
    Just as he did when he stabbed Ray.
    Half the town was gathered nearby, of course. It’s not as if anything as interesting as a boy stabbing his mother the same day he stabbed a classmate usually happened in this town. Hell, it was probably the most exciting thing to happen around here since they lynched the Tooth Fairy . . .
    Caitlin could hear the mutterings from the grown-ups. “He was in class with my daughter.” “Spooky kid.” “I always thought there was something, y’know, wrong with him.” “That poor woman, to have to live alone with that.”
    Then another voice sounded over the noise of people kicking Kyle while he was down and over the cops talking to one another.
    “Let me through! This is my aunt’s house! What hap—”
    The voice cut itself off just as the person it belonged to came into view. It was Kyle’s cousin, Larry.
    One of the cops—Caitlin couldn’t tell who it was from this far off—started talking to Larry in a quiet voice. Meanwhile, Officer Henry walked over to Kyle with some old lady who reminded Caitlin of the school’s icky guidance counselor.
    Caitlin hated guidance counselors. So did Kyle.
    “Kyle, this is Dr. Jenkins,” the officer said.
    Dr. Jenkins didn’t actually say anything, she just guided Kyle by the shoulder toward a van that said “County Social Services” on the door.
    Caitlin realized that they were going to take Kyle away. Probably forever.
    Stupidly, the first thing she thought was that Kyle never got his money from the Tooth Fairy.
    Then again, what more natural thing to think in this town?
    Idly, she fingered the charm necklace that she always wore. Her mother had given it to her when her little brother, Michael, was born—a kind of consolation prize, a way to reassure her that they still loved her even though they had a new baby.
    All of a sudden, Caitlin came to a decision.
    Looking up, she saw her mother staring ahead, rocking Michael in his blue blanket.
    Then Caitlin unhooked the smiling sun charm from the necklace and, before her mother could stop her, ran out toward Kyle.
    She got to the van just as Kyle took his seat in the first passenger bench right behind the driver. He still looked all dazed and confused, but he did actually turn his head to look at Caitlin.
    Grabbing his hand, Caitlin put the sun charm on top of his palm and closed his fingers over it. She even smiled at him.
    Kyle didn’t return the smile.
    Dr. Jenkins gently pushed Caitlin aside so she could slide the door to the van shut. Then the older woman got into the shotgun seat, and the van drove off.
    Caitlin wondered if Kyle would ever smile again.

six
    1840
    Sam Smith thought going to the Tooth Fairy’s house was a bad idea.
    It was one thing if they actually had any teeth to offer her. All the children of Darkness Falls knew that if you went to the weird lady up at Lighthouse Point with one of your baby teeth, you’d get sweets in return.
    But neither Sam nor his best friend, Thomas, had any teeth.
    What they had was hunger. After all, it was hours until supper, and they’d been playing all day. Neither Sam’s mother nor Thomas’s would let them have anything to spoil their appetites. “Dessert comes after the meal,” Mama had always said.
    Thomas, though, wanted treats now, and he knew that the Tooth Fairy would be baking