Locke & Key: Keys to the Kingdom #4 is the twenty-second issue of the series.
Synopsis[]
Casualties[]
Rufus Whedon comes over to Keyhouse and ends up playing "Squadron Strange" with Bode Locke. While playing, the ghost of Sam Lesser shows up, unlike the other characters, Rufus can see him. So he follows him into another room. Sam then starts explaining what happened to him but covers it up to make it sound like a war. Sam then leads Rufus into the cellar where he tells Rufus more about who Zack Wells really is and that he's watching them.
Rufus and Sam both see a pair of glowing red eyes in the air as he's using the Philosophoscope. Sam then brings Rufus into the hidden cellar where Dodge found the Crown of Shadows where he explains the importance of the keys and what Dodge might do to Rufus's mother. Despite that, Rufus still doesn't want to kill Zack.
Sam goes on to tell him about the flooded caves, the drainage system, and the Omega Key. Rufus still refuses to kill. Rufus is then lead out to the Wellhouse. He explains that the door through the wellhouse has the power to destroy Zack, and he should tell the other kids about this. Sam then disappears as Bode comes running after Rufus and gets him back inside.
While drinking hot cocoa Rufus tries to tell Bode about Zack, but he's interrupted as he shows up to pick him up. When the two are alone, Zack tells Rufus about all the horrible things that will happen if he ever tells anyone, before he rips one of Rufus's soldiers apart, leaving him on the ground.
Kinsey Locke and Zack then make up again.
Later, at Cape Cod Hospital, Brian Rogan finally wakes up and explains to Duncan Locke there was another person in their house the night he got hit by a car.
Trivia[]
- Rufus says people think of him as "section 8", which refers to a U.S. Soldier who's been discharged because they are mentally unfit for duty.
- Tyler starts wearing his glasses in this issue.
- On page 9, Rufus implies the reason he has such an obsession with playing soldiers was because his father left him and joined the army.