The Devil of Echo Lake by Douglas Wynne Read Free Book Online Page A

on his case about what he could eat, but this was out of the blue. I was on tour when it happened. Just finishing, actually. I was scheduled to be in New York this week anyway. Canceled an MTV thing I was supposed to do. I’m in no shape to be in front of a camera.”
    “That’s the right thing to do, slowing down a little. Some people go full tilt with work when they should be taking time to grieve, you know? But it catches up with you later.”
    “Well I don’t know if I’ll really be slowing down much. My contract requires me to deliver another album on the company’s schedule. But I feel like a lot of things are catching up with me lately. So maybe some time out in the woods won’t be such a bad thing.”
    “How’s your mom?”
    “She’s okay. I mean, she’s coping, I guess. She’s not talking much. And when she tries to cheer me up…” He dragged on the cigarette. “Just makes it worse.”
    “How do you mean?”
    “I don’t know… She told me she gave her sixth-graders an essay assignment to write about their hero, and one of the kids wrote about me.”
    “Little ass kisser,” Johnny said with a smile.
    Billy laughed. It was a broken sound that turned into a cough. “I don’t think the kids know she’s my mother. Anyway, Evan’s the hero. He’s a firefighter. A hero, I am not. I just feel guilty when I’m around them.”
    “Billy...” Johnny leaned in and waited until Billy stopped stamping out his butt, brushed the hair out of his eyes, and looked up. “What’s up? What do you have to feel guilty about? Success? Your father dying? It’s not your fault.”
    Billy said nothing.
    “Jesus, Billy. Is that what you think, your father had a heart attack because of you? What, did you make the news for some sex and drugs episode? ‘Cause I must have missed it.”
    “No, nothing like that.”
    “Then what?”
    Billy drummed his fingers on the table and said, “Johnny, can I ask you a weird question? I know it’s been a long time since we talked, and you might not want to tell me, so you can just say so.”
    “Go ahead.”
    “Remember in high school, you started reading those books about, I don’t know, magic, the occult?”
    “Yeah?”
    “Well, I know we were metal-head kids, and every teenager wants power, right? Over girls and adults, mostly because you know you have none. I still play with that dark mystique and kids respond to it.”
    “I know what you mean. There’s more to it than that.”
    “Is there? That’s what I’m asking. In your experience, is there something to it?”
    Johnny sat back and took a deep breath. “I was probably drawn to the occult for the reasons you mentioned. But it led me to other things. That dark taboo claptrap eventually leads to deeper books, if you’re serious about finding the real deal. For me it led to studying Hebrew Kabalah.”
    Billy smiled. “Who knew heavy metal album art could be a gateway to harder stuff—Jewish mysticism. That would have given the PMRC pause for thought.”
    “I doubt it.”
    “You still into it?”
    “Not so much anymore. It’s just techniques for altering your consciousness at will, getting in touch with God or enlightened mind or whatever you want to call it. Like yoga. But when Angie and I got married and opened the restaurant, I didn’t have as much time for spirituality. We wanted to start a family. I stopped playing, too, but that was more of a career choice. I knew if I was living in a van, I’d end up divorced.”
    “A lot of people I know in L.A. are into witchcraft and Kabalah. I never took it that seriously myself, but some people I respect do. Still, it’s L.A. Tom Cruise and John Travolta seem like they have their shit together, but they’re into Scientology. Anyway, what I wanted to ask is: do you believe in… spiritual entities?”
    “I do.”
    “Like angels and demons?”
    “For lack of better terms, sure.”
    “Do you believe in the Devil?”
    Johnny laughed. “No. I don’t think