In the garage, Frank stared in disbelief at the scorch marks on the floor, forming an almost-perfect square. "You weren't kidding about the shape."
Craig started up the van. "I know, right?"
Brian and Frank climbed in, and Craig pressed a button on his keys that made the garage door start to swing open. "Are you sure this is going to work?" he said, holding up the hand Frank had painted a symbol on. "I'm not going to burn up on re-entry, right?"
"Let's hope not," Brian said grimly.
"How are you going to know which ones are Danny and Mark?" Frank asked Brian. "Aren't they pretty much all gonna make a rush for the van?"
"I'm hoping they'll take their hoods down when they see us." Brian squinted out of the window. "Okay, Craig, take it slow. And don't turn on your lights."
The van moved at a crawl through the grounds; Frank felt like every tree and bush was about to come running at them. There was a strange sound in the air, a deep, reverberating humming, and as they moved closer to the gates he could make out a rhythm.
"They're chanting," he realized aloud. "Great. Because chanting makes everything less creepy and gross."
Craig brought the van to a halt, idling there for a moment. "We ready?"
The Hoods were lining the gates, indistinguishable from each other. Brian's profile was highlighted in the moonlight as he stared through the windshield, swallowing nervously. "As we'll ever be, I guess."
"Hold on tight," Craig warned, and put his foot down.
They were heading for the gates at top speed - Frank could see the Hoods freaking out, milling around excitedly as the van headed straight for them. "Will the van break the gates open?" he yelled to Craig over the screech of tires.
"One way to find out!" Craig yelled back, and then the gates came rushing up ahead of them before Frank even had a chance to find a grip, and he and Brian got thrown forwards on impact, slamming into each other and the back of Craig's seat.
"Ow," Frank muttered, but Brian was already getting up, reaching for the handle to the side door and throwing it open. "Danny! Mark!"
It was pretty much chaos, some of the Hoods had been thrown to the ground by the impact, others were already headed straight for them. Frank braced himself, ready to start fighting, but then the two figures closest to the van threw their hoods back as they ran, revealing two very young, very dirty, very scared faces.
"Get in, get in!" Frank yelled, reaching out to grab Danny's robe as Brian did the same with Mark. The kids scrambled into the van and Brian yanked the door shut just as two more Hoods reached them. Frank heard them slam into it as it closed, and then they started hammering on it from the outside.
"You came," Mark said, his eyes huge in the dark. "I didn't think you would really come."
"Gratitude later," said Frank unscrewing the inkpot and yanking the brush out of his sock. "Trust now. I'm going to paint on you and I need you to just go with it, okay? I promise it won't turn you into a frog, and it's not a creepy sex thing either."
"Um," said Mark, and then the van rocked alarmingly and he grabbed for Danny's hand. "Okay!"
Frank had barely touched the brush to Mark's skin when the van rocked again. "Brian, this isn't going to work!"
"I'm on it!" Brian threw the door open again and jumped out, grabbing the nearest Hood and slamming his fist squarely into the dude's stomach.
"They're going to get in!" Danny cried, scrambling backwards into the furthest corner of the van. "Mark!"
