by Sarah Hualde
*****
“You’re right, and I would have thrown a fit. I’m in this too. There is no leaving me out.” Kat play pouted and set her keys on Lydia’s kitchen table.
Flora laughed. Most of the time, she was the babysitter, and the last to know what was going on. Now, Flora was in the thick of it. She texted Kevin to ask if he’d tucked their children in bed. He responded with a thumb up, a kiss emoji, and three zs.
“Is he good with me taking you home later?” Kat asked.
“Yup, he’s already turned in for the night. Poor man. He’s been so anxious about Little E, here.” At the mention of its nickname, baby Brandes shoved a foot into Flora’s ribs. “Woof,” she panted and continued, “He hasn’t been sleeping at all. He will now.”
“If Eden doesn’t invade the bed.” Ivy laughed.
“There’s always that.”
They got Kat up to speed and by 11:30 they were hashing out new ideas. “Have you shown them the video?” Kat asked.
“What video?” Lydia avoided the conversation and tossed another grape into her mouth.
“Averie’s yoga video! I know you sent it to yourself.” All three onlookers put annoyed hands to their hips and glared at Lydia.
“Okay, it’s on my phone. I’ll get it.”
“What yoga video?”
“Averie shot a yoga video in the middle of the 5K track. Then later, she’s wandering through the field as someone chases her.” Kat sucked the salt off a pretzel and chomped through the crisp processed food product.
Ivy turned her head away from the gorging sight. Her crunchy mom mentor was stress binging, and it wasn’t pretty. “Who’s chasing her?” She asked.
“We don’t know,” Kat answered mouth half full.
Flora handed her a napkin. “What do you mean you don’t know? There’s no way the whole thing could be an accident? No way she could’ve just snapped? I mean, she was just attacked by a stalker the night before.”
“You can see a shadow. Someone is chasing her.” Lydia brought over the phone and scrolled from screen to screen, failing to find her email icon.
“Oh dear,” Flora rocked on her heels holding her stomach.
“Can you tell if it’s a man or a woman?” Ivy asked to see the video.
“No,” Kat wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and then her hand with her napkin. She downed an entire bottle of water, washing the salt away.
“I can’t find it, Kat!” Lydia grunted. “I think my phone updated!”
“I dropped it earlier. Sorry. I hope it’s not damaged.”
Lydia flipped the phone around, searching for scratches. “No, it looks okay.” Satisfied her mobile wasn’t in disrepair. Three stars looked back at her from the phone case. “This isn’t my phone.”
She held the cell toward Kat who snatched it. “No way! I thought you gave this to Ethan.”
“In the rush, I must have forgotten.”
Flora huffed, “So that’s Averie’s phone?”
Both Lydia and Kat nodded in surprise. Ivy grabbed the phone from their shocked grasp and scrolled the screen. She stabbed it with one end of a cord and plunged the other into her laptop. “There’s no use freaking out about it. We can’t get in touch with Ethan if he’s at the hospital. I suppose you can drive it back to him, later. For now, we will watch this video.”
Ivy replayed the video on the laptop before the ladies could form a reasonable objection. On the larger screen, Averie’s fear was even more palpable. Flora gulped several times before taking a seat. Ivy played the video again, zooming in more closely on the shadow chasing Averie. “I can’t tell who it is. But it’s a second person.”
“Where did you find the phone?” Flora paced.
“In a mud puddle right outside the bee fence.”
“Well, that counts Maven out.” Ivy snapped.
“Why?” Kat cracked a pretzel in half but did not eat it.
“In her last video, Averie said Maven was allergic to bees. She wouldn’t shoot the video with her. So why would she chase anyone through a village of beehives.”
An uncomfortable silence swallowed the dining room. “That only leaves Shane Mons.”
*****
Berna dropped her keys on her bedside table. She huffed in anxious frustration. It was midnight, and her breakfast started at seven. She prayed that cook was in a good mood and arrived early to work. Berna doubted it.
The day after the lavender festival was a carnival of migraines and stomach problems. Berna could count on running the day short staffed. The innkeeper wanted nothing more than to fling herself onto her bed and sleep the memories away.
That wasn’t about to happen for her. Berna needed to deliver a long list of reprimands to deliver to her housekeeper. She needed to keep the tenderhearted naïve maid away from her senseless security guard. She didn’t want to fire either one. Berna had a soft spot for lost souls. Olive and Henry qualified for lost soul status, big time. Tonight, she couldn’t take any more scares.
Shattering glass resounded from the common room. “Lord in Heaven, what’s happening now?” It wasn’t a blasphemous ejaculation but a cry for help. Berna flung herself from the room forcing her adrenaline to carry her.
Olive stood in the middle of the room, holding a vomiting Dandelion. Cat yack stunk up the porch and trailed on the hardwood through the common room. Scattered, broken on the floor lay Berna’s tea service. Remnants of her devoured ginger cookies flaked off the cat’s whiskers. “Lord,” she pleaded, “please get me through tonight without shooting someone.”
“What happened?” She snagged a kitchen towel and laid it across Olive’s arm, to collect any more projections.
“I don’t know. I don’t know. He charged at me. I didn’t notice the vomit until now.”
The fur ball seized. He meowed and wretched. “I’ll call Dr. Barnes. I’m sure it will cost an arm and a leg, but we can’t have that cat throwing up on the guests.”
Olive sat on the floor, straight in a fresh batch of puke and cradled the feline. Berna didn’t stop her. It was too late for caution. She dialed the doc as she surveyed her living area. The smell was intense and acrid. “I wouldn’t think your cat could hold all this mess.”
*****
The ladies screened Averie’s yoga video one last time. They each watched for hints or flickers of the camera, hoping to see something that proved Shane Mons had been in that field.
Nothing came up. The yoga routine completed. Sudden terror flashed across Averie's face. Next came the chase. The camera pointed at the dirt and Averie's bare feet running through the fields. It all tracked back to the mud, with no other clues.
“I wish we could hear what was going on?” One mother spat in frustration as she paced the kitchen.
Another groaned in agreement, “She seems to be talking to someone, right when the first hint of fear strikes.”
“Are you sure you can’t turn it up, Ivy?”
The teenager set bewildered eyes at Lydia. “No. It’s not that we can’t hear what’s happening. The entire video has no sound.”
“What does that even mean? No sound?”
"Exactly what I said. It has no sound." Ivy pointed to her computer, but her caretaker couldn't grasp the meaning.
“Why would she shoot an entire video without sound? Even the section on the mat has no sound, and she’s talking to the viewer.”
Ivy rubbed her forehead and circled her temples. “It’s because she is an ASMR artist. Sound is so important to her videos. She can’t compromise on it. She shoots the video and the sound separately?” Lydia shook her head, lost to the suggestion. “Okay, this is how the pros do it. They shoot the video with their camera. It looks like Averie shot the yoga portion with her professional camera. The picture is still, stable and stays in position the entire time. She filmed the speaking and walking portion on her phone."
“Okay? What does that have to do with sound?”
Ivy brought up an electronic store on the laptop
and pointed to some apparatus. "Have you ever noticed that Averie wears an earpiece?" Lydia nodded. The other two women encircled the laptop. "That earpiece is a microphone. It helps us hear what she hears. Understand?"
“Yes, continue.”
“Her microphone doesn’t connect to her camera. It connects to a sound pack she keeps on her person.”
“Like Pastor Dean wears during service?”
"Yes! This pack records the sound and then later Averie splices to the two pieces together. Sometimes she adds sounds. Sometimes she takes the sound out. But for her viewers to get the clearest sound possible, she uses a separate sound pack."
"So, where's the sound pack?" Flora asked, blinking sleepiness from her eyes. Ivy shrugged and turned to Kat. Kat shrugged and turned to Lydia.
“I guess at the hospital, with her belongings?”
*****
"Something poisoned your cat,” the exhausted vet pronounced upon seeing the cat on his phone screen. “What has he been eating?”
Olive whimpered but didn’t answer. Berna’s frustration added sharpness to her voice, “Well, the dumb animal busted through the porch screen and ate all my ginger snaps.”
Doctor Barnes shook his head. “How many?”
Berna visualized her lovely night time snack platter. “Maybe five or six?”
“Could he have nibbled on any plants? Walk me around the room. Show me what plants you keep indoors.” Berna obeyed while Olive crooned to her fur baby. “What’s that?” The Doctor’s question echoed off the kitchen tile.
“Where?”
“To the left, on the counter by the stove,” The doctor guided Berna to a transparent organza bag. The woman picked it up and held it close to the cell camera. “Spill it out on the counter,” Berna obeyed. Olive stood by her side, still holding the cat. “Get Dandelion out of the kitchen,” the Vet commanded.
“But Berna,” Olive choked on worry took a long time to spit out her words. “That looks like what Henry smoked.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Flora and Ivy selected to stay at Lydia’s. Kat would come back early in the morning to get Flora. Lydia would drive Averie’s phone back up to the hospital. She dreaded the journey, having made it so many times already. Her feet ached. She noticed halfway to the hospital she was still wearing her nasty running shoes and Kat’s borrowed clothes.
Coffee and adrenaline fading, Lydia kept her eyes on the road and used her other hand to dig for her phone. She shoved aside her wallet, her sunglasses, and more. Still watching the way, she unzipped pouches and fingered through makeup, tissues, and breath mints. The familiar rectangle shape was absent. Lydia looked all around, with no drivers in sight and no lights signaling an oncoming car, she felt safe to take a second and look into her purse.
She set her bag on her lap and searched. No phone. Where did I leave it? She increased her speed after setting her purse back down and hurried to the hospital, deciding she must have left the phone there.
Pulling up to the hospital she bypassed the usual entrance and searched the edge of the building, choosing a parking spot under a light post. An ambulance lit up the parking lot, Lydia prayed over the passenger. The paramedics rolled a gurney through the automatic doors.
Her steps came naturally and without focus. The last couple of days taught her many things. For one, anybody could enter any room in a hospital if they walked with confidence. Stopping to ask directions or for permission only hindered a visitor’s progress.
Often her treks stalemated once she signed in with the nurse. If she stormed past the station, with purpose in her steps, no one bothered to stop her. She did just that and was standing outside Averie’s room without speaking with a single soul.
Ethan wasn't in sight. She peeked into Averie's room. A nurse was shuffling around her bed. Lydia bowed out as quickly as she could. She waited outside the room, hoping to see her husband.
*****
Kat kissed the forehead of each of her sleeping children. She tried spooning her snoring husband. But she was restless and high on information overload. Avoiding coffee, she made herself a cup of cinnamon tea but couldn’t focus enough to drink it.
Instead, she dragged her laptop to her couch and searched Shane Mons. She hadn't thought to at Lydia's. Everyone focused on finding out more about Averie and Maven. Averie’s stalker never hit the list of internet searches.
Surprised, many entries for Shane Andrew Mons illuminated her screen. Mr. Mons was also an online video star. His videos were art and woodworking tutorials. Some labeled ASMR and featured only the sounds of his labor and not his directions. Many times, Shane listed the Averie ASMR channel under his and encouraged fans to give her videos a try.
Kat followed a link over to Averie’s playlist and found several comments by Shane Mons. At least it was his logo on the avatar icon. His screen name went from Shane Andrew Mons to ShDwMons. Shadow man.
All his comments were kind and uplifting, not over flirtatious or over eager. His last comment, on a video two months old, said:
I’ve finally found you. Be looking for me. I'm on my way. Love SM
How he’d flipped so rapidly from a sweetie to a stalker was a shock to Kat. She returned to his other videos. A younger Mons talked his viewers through a biography video, much like Averie’s.
Averie’s history pivoted with the death of her grandmother and then the horrible crash. Shane’s flipped over his life’s heartbreak.
He recounted meeting the love of his life and how they married in secret. He also detailed his sorrow when his wife suddenly disappeared. His fans donated to his cause. In return, he promised not to give up until he found his wife.
Many of his videos ended with two words displayed across his screen, Still Searching. It didn’t take a genius to add up Mr. Mon’s discovery. Kat called Lydia immediately.
“Hello,” she answered, in hushed tones.
“Lydia, oh thank goodness. I’ve figured it out. Shane Mons is not a stalker, not really.” Kat rambled without inhaling. She blurted her findings too fast for Lydia to cut in.
“Maven crashed the car, and Averie lost her memory. He couldn't find her. She just went missing.
He’s been searching for her ever since. I can’t believe Maven didn’t let him know Averie was hurt. You know what? I don’t even think Averie has a clue? Who would do that? To someone they loved? What kind of sick does a person have to be to set up their best friend and cousin after almost killing them? And then hide them away?
I bet he’s been trying to reach her for years. Since you have Averie’s cell phone, it couldn't do any harm, to look at her emails. See if Mons was trying to get a hold of her?"
Kat’s rant dried out her mouth, and she took a drink of her tea. Lydia said nothing. “Lydia?”
The phone clicked. Hospital reception was spotty. Lydia would return the call, later. Kat decided to doze on the couch until she did.
*****
Berna found Lydia before Lydia found Ethan. “How did the Lord know who I needed to see?” Berna stumbled up to Lydia. “It has been a day.”
Lydia listened as Berna detailed her day at the festival. She then sat appalled at the story of Henry and his near-death experience. It disgusted her when Berna told her about the cat. “We’re not sure Dandelion will make it. Dr. Barnes is with him and Olive right now. Who knew tea could make a cat so sick?”
Lydia only half heard. She looked for her husband, eager to get Averie’s phone into his hands. In a light bulb flicker of insight, she turned to Berna and quizzed her about her guest.
“When did you book Averie for the festival?” Berna looked confused but settled into the new topic with ease. She’d do anything to distract her mind from the gore of the previous hours.
“I guess it was last month. Averie called and explained who she was and asked if she could shoot a video in my bee yard. I accepted. She's paying me for the use of my yard and then her rooms. I told her it was Lavender Weekend. She was happy to join in. It was her idea
to host a sound bath event and a DVD signing. I had no idea who she was, but after watching her videos, I discovered what a great fit for the Lavender Festival she was." Berna shook her head and checked her watch.
"You've got to be careful with those ASMR videos. Not all of them are as wholesome as Averie's. The things I've seen, you wouldn't believe — vampire dentists dressed like streetwalkers more than night stalkers. I've never found the dentist to be relaxing or sexy. Absurd!
Oh! There was even one where the star spent the whole video wrapping a half-naked lady in plastic wrap. In that one, they were pretending to be an alien taking back a human specimen.”
“You watched the whole thing, Berna?”
Unabashed, Berna grunted in regret, “Like a train wreck.” Lydia chuckled, infecting Berna with her fatigued laughter. The women howled without reason, causing many an orderly to pause and set inquisitive eyes in their direction. “Whew, I needed that. Thank you, Lydia. A good giggle sets my mind right.
Anyway, Averie's videos were wholesome, like I said. She seems to care about her viewers. As if she is really trying to help them. You've met her. She’s the same in person.” Lydia grinned her agreement.
“How long was she at the Hive, before the festival? A day or two?”
"Oh no." Berna propped her folded hands atop her purse. "After our first conversation, she booked two rooms for the entire month. She's been in town for about two weeks. A week into her stay, Maven called and booked her room. It was a squeeze, but I had a cancelation."
“What? Maven didn’t arrive with Averie?”
“Well no. It was Averie and Mr. Mons.”
Lydia perked up. “Mr. Mons?”
"Yes, her cameraman. At least I assume he's her cameraman. He borrowed a beekeeper suit and filmed the bee video with her last week." Berna looked around. Lydia's sudden shift in mood put her ill at ease. "Though, I suspect they were more than coworkers. Well, if they weren't, they would have been, soon. They were so cute together. They walked the path at sunset and chatted during the wine and cheese hour.”
