23
That afternoon, for the first time in more than three months, we left the camp. Ariadne drove us out in an old beaten up van that I hadn’t even known existed. I also had never known that Ariadne could drive, and I wondered as she sped along whether she actually had a license. However, we made it to our destination safely. It was a small town that was near the lake but not quite on the lake, and it was full of strip malls, shopping plazas, car dealerships, and tattoo parlors. I was a little less than impressed when we stopped in a huge and mostly vacant plaza parking lot.
“This is the town that you were talking about?” I said.
“Yes,” said Ariadne gruffly. “Sorry if it doesn’t impress you.”
“Ariadne, why are we in a strip mall parking lot?” said Ash, looking around.
“This,” Ariadne r
