Grandma Polly laughed at that, and Miles smiled, then got back to the discussion at hand.
“This truth ability that Anika has, ties in with her other one. She senses something, a spiritual darkness we think it is. It hovers around those who have committed murder.”
“I don’t understand it completely,” I said, “but it seems as though it grows darker when the person is intent on harming someone else.”
“I see,” said Grandma Polly, looking very serious now. “So you children have run into another murderer. It does seem as though you’ve dealt with more than your fair share of that, already.”
“Yeah, I’d say so,” I agreed.
“You’re right though, we have run into another one,” said Miles. “It started on our first day back in Glen Haven.”
Miles and I took turns telling Grandma Polly more about my abilities, and our hunt for evidence to prove Pretend-Mead guilty of murder. We told her what Trixie said about Miles waiting for me and that we were supposed to meet, that one of his responsibilities was to protect me and that he kept me from being dizzy and getting “lost.” It took a while, and we were through with breakfast long before we were through talking about everything.
“When will you try sorting through this memory, Anika dear?” asked Grandma Polly. She looked concerned and curious, all at the same time.
“It’s not really a memory, it’s just… the truth. Sometime this weekend though,” I said. “Cecilia will be here tomorrow morning, so I should probably do this today. What do you think, Miles?”
“Let’s do this when you’re ready,” Miles said. “Is there anything else you wanted to do this morning?”
“Maybe we should meet with Pastor Gary and Annie while we’re here,” I said. “We can update them on everything that’s happened in the last week. Maybe Annie will have more insight for us.”
That was a good idea. The reason I thought of it though, is because I wanted to put this off. I wasn’t looking forward to spending several hours watching Westin set up the real Ryan Mead in order to murder him and then dispose of his body.
But, putting it off was only delaying the misery. I need to just—do it like a Band-Aid.
“I’ll call and see it they’re available today,” said Miles, his phone already in his hand.
“Wait, Miles!” I clutched his arm. Suddenly I felt as though I couldn’t get this over with fast enough. “I need to get this over with. So maybe we could meet with them this afternoon or evening.”
“Why don’t you invite them to dinner, Miles dear?” asked Grandma Polly. “Then coffee and conversation in the library, after.”
“Good idea,” Miles said, looking to me for confirmation. I nodded.
Miles dialed, and Pastor Gary answered. The conversation didn’t last long.
“We can expect Pastor Gary and Annie for dinner this evening at seven o’ clock,” Miles told us. “I need to let Chef know.”
“I’ll take care of that for you dear,” Grandma Polly offered. “I can tell by the way Anika is biting her thumbnail that she wants to get started on this hunt for evidence.”
I didn’t realize I was doing that, and stopped. I surveyed the damage and was relieved to see that I didn’t cause too much harm. I didn’t want to ruin my manicure! Miles and I had formal dinners and functions to attend at times, and so I tried to take care of my nails. I didn’t want them to detract from my beautiful wedding rings, either.
“Shall we do this then?” asked Miles, as he put his phone back in his pocket.
“Yes, let’s do. I don’t know how long this will take… I don’t want to be interrupted, either.” I could hear a vacuum running at the end of the hall, and slowly coming closer. The Queen of Clean girls must be working the estate today. “Let’s do this in our room.”
“Alright,” said Miles, offering me his hand as I rose from the couch. “Grandma Polly… we’ll see you whenever we do.”
“That’s just fine, dear,” she said, giving us each a hug. “I’ll go inform Chef of our dinner plans and see you when you’re through. Good luck, Anika dear. I’ll be saying a prayer for you.”
“Thanks,” I said.
“Elevator, or stairs?” asked Miles, as we walked down the hall.
“I think the elevator would be wise. This higher altitude is hard enough to get used to.”
Miles laughed, because the difference between Cedar Oaks and Glen Haven isn’t that much different.
“I was sort of kidding,” he said. “We’re already on the third floor.”
“Fine then, the stairs. I only hope I can make it.”
Miles smiled. He was thinking of something, and I wanted to know what.
“What is it that’s so funny?” I asked.
“I was just remembering the time you ran all the way here, and couldn’t even talk you were so out of breath. You didn’t appreciate my teasing you about it.”
I laughed along with him.
“You tricked me so bad, too. I thought I hurt you when I pretend slapped at you. I felt absolutely terrible!”
“Sorry about that,” said Miles, smiling.
“I’m not sure that’s the truth,” I said, and smiled too.
“So why were you in such a hurry that day? You never told me.”
“Ugh, Mom wanted to know where I heard about chronic Lyme disease. I said a friend told me about it, and he was really smart… she latched onto the word ‘he.’ I couldn’t tell her about you, and of course she wanted to know about this guy friend of mine. So I redirected her, then tore out of there as fast as I could before she could ask any more questions. Fortunately my redirection worked so well, she forgot all about it by the time I went back that evening.”
“How did you redirect her?” asked Miles, as we reached the stairs and began our ascent.
“I asked if that was a mouse, and looked next to the stove.”
“And I suppose you knew all along that it wasn’t,” said Miles, shaking his head and smiling.
“Yes, I knew,” I said. “But it worked!”
“It’s so ironic that you have the gift of truth,” Miles commented. “Are you suffering much, going through any withdrawals yet, now that you’re no longer working your magic?”
“Actually, once you came back, I didn’t have much reason to deceive people about anything other than when you were born and what happened since. Now that our friends know the truth, it’s been easy. I’m so scared of hurting this ability, that’s all I’m thinking about right now. I hope I don’t ever forget.”
“I hope so too,” said Miles, serious now. “Before long this will become a habit, so chances are you won’t.”
We reached the top of the stairs and walked down the hall to our room.
“Might as well get comfortable,” I said, as I sat down and took off my shoes. “If viewing this is in real-time, we’re going to be here for several hours.”
“Good idea,” said Miles, removing his shoes also, while he used his ability to pile pillows for us to lean against.
We settled in the middle of the huge bed. Miles put his arms around me, and I tried to relax.
“I’m nervous,” I said.
“You’ll do fine,” said Miles reassuringly. “This ability of yours… you weren’t given something that you can’t handle, and I’ll be right here with you the whole time.”
“Okay. You’re right. It’ll be fine.”
I turned so I could give Miles a hug and kiss him. I felt like I was about to leave on a long journey and wouldn’t see him for a while. I probably felt that way because in one regard, that was true.
I settled against him, and closed my eyes.
“Look, I feel bad about it okay, but c’mon. You can get a job easy, and afford tuition at least. You can room with me, I won’t charge rent. I’ve gotta have a place no matter what. But I can’t pay your whole way,” said eighteen-year-old Ryan Mead.
“Yeah, whatever,” said eighteen-year-old Rob Westin. “It’s fine. Forget I asked. You…
do what you have to do. So will I.”
Rob Westin left the cabin, a coil of knotted rope over his shoulder and a shovel in his hand. He walked purposefully down a short trail until he reached a deep and narrow crevasse in the mountain. He stood for a moment looking into it, then held out the shovel and dropped it. He watched as it fell. When it came to rest with a thud on the floor of the crevasse, he stepped away and expertly tied one end of the rope to a pine tree a short distance from the gouge in the earth.
Rob Westin pulled hard on the rope, testing its strength. Satisfied, he walked to the edge of the crevice and hurled the coil out into empty space. It unwound as it fell, the extra rope rapidly piling into a heap on the ground near the shovel.
Taking the rope in his hand, he carefully climbed over the edge of the precipice and began to descend, bracing his feet against the side. His hands followed the knots in the rope.
He reached the bottom at last. Taking a few deep breaths, he surveyed the floor of the deep fissure. Selecting a spot, he began to dig.
“Glad I could talk you into it,” said Rob Westin. He and Ryan Mead sat in chairs near the campfire.
“Yeah. Sure. I had to come back sometime, I guess…”
Rob tossed a rock at a spotted squirrel, and missed.
“I’d be happy to lose my parents,” Rob said, and quickly added, “but I know you feel different.”
Ryan looked away.
Rob watched him for a second, as a shrill whistle filled the air.
“Water’s ready,” he said. “I’ll get it.”
Ryan stayed by the fire as darkness began to fall.
Rob emptied a packet of cocoa in each of two mugs. In one he also added an additional powdery substance before filling both with water from the teakettle which sat on the propane stove.
Rob stirred until no trace of powder remained, using a different spoon for each mug. He then carried the mugs to the campfire, handing one to Ryan.
“Thanks,” he said, setting it aside to cool.
Rob did the same.
The earth grew steadily darker as the sun descended behind the mountains.
“It’s perfect now,” said Rob, drinking from his mug. “C’mon, drink up, and cheer up! I can’t wait for school to start. It’s going to be great.”
“You’re going then?” asked Ryan, drawn out of his thoughts.
“Yes, I’ve worked it out so I can,” said Rob with satisfaction.
“Hm. I’m sort of surprised,” said Ryan, picking up his own mug and testing it.
“Life is full of surprises,” said Rob, watching him with a look of intense fascination as Ryan slowly drank until his mug was empty.
Ryan lay unconscious on the ground near the ashes of the campfire. Rob stood and stretched, then tossed his beer bottle into the ashes and pushed on Ryan’s leg with his foot. Ryan didn’t move.
Rob took hold of Ryan’s arms and dragged him slowly but surely down the short path to the crevasse. Reaching the edge, without hesitation, Rob rolled him over and into the earth’s fissure.
He stood as the sound of Ryan’s body striking the bottom of the crevasse momentarily filled the silence. He looked into the slit in the earth that was too narrow and too deep to allow the faint light of the moon to penetrate.
Rob walked away.
The light of the sun faintly illuminated the earth as it began to crest the mountains in the east. Rob walked to the edge of the crevasse, oblivious to the chill in the early morning air.
Using the rope, he climbed down and found Ryan’s body, now cold and lifeless.
Rob’s eyes held no remorse or other feeling which would be associated with any normal human being, at the sight of their best friend in such a condition.
Rob briskly dragged Ryan’s body to the pit that had been previously dug, and dumped him over the edge. Retrieving the shovel which leaned against the side of the earthen wall of the crevasse, he filled in the hole, then tamped down the earth.
Tying the shovel to the end of the rope, Rob climbed back out. He pulled up the rope and the shovel, and untied the rope from the tree.
Returning those items to the cabin, he looked around him in satisfaction.
Whistling, he put Ryan’s wallet in his back pocket and climbed in the rental car and drove away.
I didn’t know everything, but I knew enough. The real Ryan had a cabin belonging to his family. He was probably the one that rented the car, but for sure one of them did. Now I knew how and where Pretend-Mead murdered Ryan, and where his body was buried.
I was anxious to tell Miles. Where was Miles? Where was I, for that matter?
Wherever I was, there was no light. Only total and complete darkness. I began to panic, gasping for breath. There was no sound other than my heart pounding in my ears. I was utterly alone in a darkness that was so black, every other shade by that name was gray in comparison.
My mind desperately scrambled for a thought, an idea, a way out. I knew I was really in our room, at the estate, with Miles. My consciousness was somewhere else entirely though, and I didn’t want to be here. Is this what Trixie meant by becoming lost? But Miles was with me! He had the ability to keep me grounded. Did something happen, and he had to leave me alone? But he wouldn’t do that… How was I going to escape? I don’t want to be lost! Is this what it’s like to be in a coma? Is that what everyone’s going to think?
In class when I gained this truth that I just witnessed, I looked at my rings, and found myself back in the classroom. I tried looking at my rings. I could feel them, but the darkness was impenetrable. That was no help, and now I had another concern. If I could feel my rings, was I completely lost? Maybe I wasn’t in our bedroom at the estate at all. I don’t want that to be the truth!
That word truth sparked a thought, and it glimmered in my mind. Truth is the enemy of darkness. I desperately prayed for help. This wasn’t something I could handle on my own, and I needed something more to ground me. Suddenly my wedding rings reflected a blinding light that eradicated the darkness, and with a gasp, I found myself back in our room.
I grabbed hold of the front of Miles’ shirt and held on, shaken and trembling, afraid of being lost again.
“Are you okay? What’s wrong?” asked Miles, hugging me tighter.
“Was I gone?” I managed to ask.
Miles hesitated, then said, “No, honey. It felt like you were?”
“Yes,” I said. The scent of his aftershave began to calm me as it always had ever since the day he returned and I clung to him for dear life, much as I was now. “I’m so glad I wasn’t all the way gone.”
Miles rubbed my back and gave me time to catch my breath as my pounding heart began to slow back down.
“Rob Westin is a monster. What he did was so calculated, and—I’m not going to tell you, Miles, because you won’t be able to forget it, hearing it will make a memory for you. But it was bad. So bad.”
“I’m sorry you had to see that,” said Miles, pressing his cheek against my hair and hugging me tighter. “I’m glad once we no longer need this information, it won’t haunt your thoughts.”
“I am too. It helps to know that. What’s important though, is that Ryan Mead was murdered at a cabin owned by his family. His body is buried in a deep crevasse near the cabin. Ryan Mead and Rob Westin drove to the cabin in a rental car.”
“Perfect,” said Miles, kissing the top of my head. “You did it, honey. I’ll give this information to Jackson. He’ll be able to find out where this cabin is. Chances are, Pretend-Mead never sold it in order to minimize the risk of someone discovering Ryan’s body.”
“How will he explain to the Sheriff, or State Police… I don’t know who would handle this, but it isn’t in a city. It’s an isolated cabin in the woods.”
“Are you asking how will Jackson explain where he got this information?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t know specifically,” said Miles. “I do know he won’t bring either of our names into this. He may say he got an a
nonymous tip from someone who has visions. I don’t really know.”
“The most important thing is that Rob Westin be convicted of Ryan Mead’s murder. And that we’re left out of it, that too.”
“Right,” agreed Miles. “Since the Mead’s lived in Seattle, then this cabin is likely to be in that area and far away from us.”
“That’s not a bad thing at all,” I said. “What time is it now? How long was I gone?”
“It’s eight-fifteen in the morning. No time passed between when we kissed each other, you leaned your head against my chest, then grabbed my shirt to ask if you’d been gone.”
“You’re kidding!” I said, knowing he wasn’t, but even with my ability it was hard to believe after what I just experienced.
“I’m serious,” said Miles. “So… what happened?”
I shuddered.
“After this truth ended, I was completely alone in the blackest darkness. You know how dark it is in our cave, if we turn off our flashlights? It was darker than that.”
“I can’t even imagine what that would be like.”
“I couldn’t either, until now. There was no sound, and I’ve never felt so alone. It felt like I was there a long time. I was really scared.”
“Why wasn’t I able to protect you from that?” wondered Miles, frowning in concern.
“Maybe you did. Maybe it could have been worse. I finally prayed for help, and there was this vivid light, I have no idea where it came from, but my rings lit up and I was back here with you.”
“So if you ever do this again, I guess you’ll pray right away,” said Miles.
“Definitely,” I said with feeling. “I should have done that immediately, but I was so panicked. I couldn’t think straight I was so scared.”
“I’m very glad you’re back. It’s strange to realize that what felt like less than an instant to me, took much longer for you.”
“Much, much longer,” I said. “Hours and hours.”
Miles tilted my face so he could look at me.
“You’ve got dark circles under your eyes. Are you exhausted?”
“Yeah. I am,” I said. “Not just because of getting up at an inhumane hour, either.”
Darkness Falls Page 26
