The teenager rolled her eyes. "Nothing, but I'm on the register today."
"Alright," Johanna's blood boiled, but she didn't want to start an argument. "I'm going to leave this stuff on the counter while I go look for capers. Is that alright with you?"
The cashier shrugged, pulling a bottle of fingernail polish out of her smock.
While Johanna looked around for the capers, she felt like she was being watched. She looked up at the cashier, but she was busy painting her nails. Johanna hadn't heard anyone else come into the store. It was small enough for her to see both the entrance and the exit doors. She figured there had to have been some other employees in the store, but didn't see them.
On the bottom shelf of the spice aisle, she found the capers. She crouched down to get them and, as she stood up, a man's voice asked, "Need some help there?"
Johanna yelped, startled. "You scared me. Where did you come from?"
The man smiled at her. "Just walked in and saw you down on the ground there."
From her vantage point, she couldn't make out his features. The harsh lighting blinded her momentarily. As she stood up, she noticed his dark tan and piercing blue eyes. They were the only features handsome about him in his current state. His clothes were covered in dirt and his large hands were calloused.
"I'm fine." She held up the jar of capers to show him. He looked her up and down, making her uncomfortable. "Well, the cashier's waiting for me." She backed away from him, sensing that he wasn't the kind of man she wanted to bother with.
"Found them!" She placed the jar of capers down in front of the cashier. "Thanks for your help." The girl ignored the comment and rang up the items. All the while, the man that had startled her remained in the aisle, watching her.
Johanna whispered, "Who is that guy?"
The girl looked down the aisle, rolled her eyes and asked, "Why? What did he do?"
The way the girl looked at the man told Johanna that she did indeed know the man and he seemed to know her. She grabbed her bag of items and got out of the store as quickly as possible. She didn't like the way either of them were looking at her.
"Weirdos." She said as the door closed behind her.
When she got out to the sidewalk, the feeling of being watched didn't go away. Heads turned as she walked by to get back to the car. It was obvious that they knew she didn't belong there or at least they thought she didn't belong there.
She tried to ignore the gawking and even attempted to be friendly and acknowledge them as she walked by, but no one said a word to her in response. They just watched her, as if they were waiting for something to happen.
"What is wrong with everyone?" Johanna asked as she struggled to unlock the trunk and throw the grocery items in.
Finally, someone spoke to her, just as she was about to close the driver's side door. "Are you a Merced?" An older gentleman asked.
She shook her head. "No, sir. My family is from Indiana." The man moved closer to the car, leaving a horrified looking woman standing in front of the car.
"Indiana, huh? Well, what brings you here?" He smiled a crooked smile.
"Moved. Just moved here." Instinctively, Johanna locked the car doors.
"Well, that's good. I hope you enjoy your stay. Are you going to be working for the Merced family?" He asked, still donning that sinister smile.
After the day she had, she didn't need one more person trying to upset her. Even though she knew she'd regret it later, she unlocked the car, opened her door, gently nudging the old man away from the car and screamed at the top of her lungs for everyone, including the grocery clerk, if she was paying attention, to hear, "You people are sick. That man lost his wife and all you've done has caused him more pain and misery with your stories. What is wrong with you people? If this is how small town America lives, I don't want any part of it. Now, back off and find yourselves something constructive to do."
Everyone stood with their mouths gaping open, staring at her as if her head had just spun. The moment of satisfaction Johanna felt at giving them a piece of her mind, dissipated as she looked at the sea of faces staring back at her. She messed up and she knew it.
"He's going to kill me." She told herself.
The last thing she wanted was to cause more problems for him or for anyone. She backed out of the parking space, making sure not to rev the engine and peel out, so she couldn't be accused of driving like a lunatic.
* * *
"YOU DID WHAT?" Sarah turned to face Johanna as she explained what happened in town.
"I"m sorry, but someone had to say something to them. They were looking at me like I'd done something to them. I know I messed up. I knew it the moment I got back in the car, but they deserved it." Johanna explained.
Sarah exhaled. "Yeah, but did Milan deserve it? Do you realize that what you did will cause him more problems? We can't fix or control how they behave, but you can control your behavior."
Johanna wanted to cry. She wished she hadn't let her emotions get the best of her. "What do you want me to do?"
"I don't know if there is anything you can do." Sarah answered.
Milan walked into the room, asking, "Do about what?"
Sarah and Johanna looked up at each other, not knowing how to respond. Milan rubbed the back of his neck, waiting for one of them to speak up.
"What happened now?" He looked out the window and something he saw, distracted him. He asked, "What in the world is going on?"
Johanna felt her heart fall into her stomach. She was afraid to look outside.
Sarah stepped to the window and looked out. She gasped, clutching her chest.
Milan turned to look at Johanna and ordered, "Make sure all of the doors and windows are locked and close the curtains."
Johanna started to ask, "Why? What happ... "
He interrupted her question. "Do it now!"
For the next couple of hours as night began to fall, the three of them remained behind closed doors and windows, listening to the voices of concerned citizens and reporters from local television and radio stations as they spewed questions at the house, hoping to get Milan's attention.
"This is crazy." Johanna mused. She glanced over at Sarah, but Sarah hadn't said a word to her since Milan came down the stairs.
Milan put his head in his hands. "I don't know why I came back. I should have just let the county do what they wanted with this property. I don't care any more."
Sarah immediately responded, "Yes, you do. We both know why you came back. You had to. You couldn't let them destroy what meant so much to your family. This," she pointed outside, "will pass and soon they will move on to the next scandal in town. You have to finish what you started. Don't let them win."
Milan looked up, exasperation on his face. "Let them win? Why is everyone acting like this is some kind of contest? This is my life. Paulina is dead and no one understands how painful that is for me. Now, this girl, whatever her name is, is dead and they found her here. How do you think that makes me look? I don't know if you realize this, but that tunnel is on my property. That tunnel," he paused, his voice cracking, "took my mother."
Johanna watched Milan storm out of the room and go upstairs. She felt sorry for him and all that he was going through. She also felt terrible for stirring things up when she went downtown.
Looking at Sarah, she asked, "How did the tunnel, take his mother? Why is focusing on what this does to him, when a girl has been murdered? Imagine what her poor family is going through right now."
Sarah looked at her, anger in her eyes, answering, "Mrs. Merced committed suicide in the creek that runs through the tunnel. Every since then, kids and the local media have turned it into some kind of urban legend. Kids would sneak in there at night to see if they could make contact with her. Soon, there were claims of visions and noises coming from there. It haunted Milan for years. He won't go in there."
Outside the voices became louder. It was like they were chanting something. Johanna looked outside at everyone. Some were h
uddled together just outside the police barricade to the yard. Others had taken to the streets, milling about, trying to catch a glimpse of Milan. It was like a scene out of a movie. Johanna could feel her anger mounting. She'd never seen anything like this. They were hungry for information and desperate for answers. She only wished they understood that Milan was too. He didn't deserve what was happening.
"How do we help?" Johanna asked just as the doorbell rang. She looked at Sarah. Sarah glanced up the stairs. There was no movement from above.
"I'll get it." Sarah went to the door, looking out the peephole. She turned and looked back at Johanna. "Its a reporter."
"Just don't answer it." Johanna advised. "They'll go away eventually." She looked back at the angry crowd, recognizing some of the faces. The man from the grocery store stood in the center of the crowd, yelling right along with the rest of them. The older couple stood arm in arm with a group. Now, she understood what all the commotion was about when she went into town.
From the other side of the door, the reporter started spewing questions at Milan. "Mr. Merced, do you know how Emily Kramer's body ended up on your property? How did you know her? Is it true that you came back to sell the manor? Mr. Merced? Mr. Merced?"
After several minutes, when no one answered any of her questions, the reporter and her cameraman retreated down the front steps and moved around to the back of the house to film the area in front of the tunnel.
Inside, Milan, Sarah, and Johanna could hear her report her story. She said, "Six years ago, Diana Merced committed suicide in the Merced Tunnel. One and half years after that, Paulina Merced, wife of Milan Merced, is found dead in the tunnel. The coroner's report was inconclusive. He attributed her death to 'unknown causes'. Coincidence or murder? Is Milan Merced a murderer or a victim in all of this? Is the Merced family cursed? How could it be that all of Merced women that have lived in this manor have been found dead by mysterious causes in this tunnel? Is this property haunted or is someone to blame for each of their deaths?"
Sarah clutched her chest as she listened to the reporter's words.
Johanna slumped down in a seat, stunned by what she'd heard. No one had yet mentioned that others had been found dead in the tunnel. The terror she felt was more powerful than any emotion she'd ever felt before in her life. She knew that the deaths could not have been an unfortunate coincidence. That wasn't possible.
Milan stood at the bottom of the stairs, his hands shaking, his eyes burning with rage, as the realization finally hit him. Another life had been lost and he was a suspect.
Chapter 9
THE SIGN SAID: Murderer.
His hands trembled as he stood on the porch, holding the sign that he'd just ripped out of his yard. Turning to face the open door, where Sarah and Johanna stood, Milan's face was drained of all color and shrouded in anguish.
"Who did this?" Sarah asked, her voice breaking, as she looked out at the crowd of people standing just outside of the iron gates. "Who did this?" She asked louder.
Stunned, Johanna said, "Come inside."
Milan looked like he might faint. His knees knocked as he tried to walk the few steps to the door. He was blinded by the flashing lights from the many cameras and the cheers and jeers of those that were supposed to have been his friends.
Johanna looked at Milan and out to the crowd and back again. "Get inside." She reached for Milan's arm before he fell to the ground. "Don't let them see you fall."
Sarah braced herself, grabbing onto Milan's other arm and keeping him steady enough for her and Johanna to get him inside, away from the peering eyes of all that had gathered in front of his home to taunt him.
Reporters screamed their questions, but their voices were muffled by the chanting of all the others that stood side by side with them. Johanna shivered at the sound of their voices. Things had spiraled so quickly out of control and anger had taken hold of everyone in River's Bend.
"Lock the door." She instructed Sarah.
"Let's get him upstairs. He needs to lie down." Sarah suggested.
They struggled to get him up the stairs. His body had become listless under all of the mounting pressure. The murderer had not yet been found, but the media had ignited a firestorm of speculation, sending people from miles around to make a pilgrimage to Merced Manor to torment Milan.
"I didn't do this. I didn't do this." He repeated as they trudged up the stairs, carrying him.
"I know. I know you didn't." Sarah repeated over and over again.
After they got him settled into bed, Sarah and Johanna collapsed to the floor in the hallway. Both of them were exhausted from the day's events. Their emotions were high and their spirits nearly broken. They were at a loss as to how to proceed.
"This town is out of control." Johanna mused.
Sarah sighed. "This town wants to apply blame for everything. It doesn't matter whether it was Milan or anyone else. Right now, he is an easy target. They know he was weakened by his losses and he's stubborn enough to keep adding fuel to the fire by being confrontational and angry all of the time, but I think they may have finally broken him."
Johanna contemplated for a few moments, the sound of all of those gathered outside reverberating through the walls of the manor.
"We have to do something." She said.
"What can we do? I don't know anything about that girl. Do you?" Sarah looked at Johanna.
"No, of course not, but we can't just let them do this and get away with it. What happened to innocent until proven guilty? I don't even understand what they think he's guilty of. His wife died. A lot of people die, but why do they think that he had something to do with that?" Johanna was growing more and more confused with each passing moment. She didn't believe for a second that the anger that spewed from the mouths of the citizens of River's Bend was solely due to this poor young woman's death. She believed there had to be more to the story than that.
Sarah stood up, brushing off her clothing. "We're going to wake him up. Let's go downstairs. There are some things you need to know."
Johanna banged her forehead up against the wall as Sarah walked down the stairs.
There are too many secrets in this house, she said to herself.
Behind her, the floor creaked. The master bedroom door slammed shut immediately after she heard the floorboards move.
"What was that?" Sarah called up the stairs.
"I don't know." Johanna peeked in the room at Milan to make sure he was still asleep. He hadn't moved. "I'll go check."
She went to the master bedroom door, putting her ear to the door to listen for the sound of any movement. A faint light shone through the window. Given the amount of camera crews outside the home, she could attribute the light to them.
Sarah stood on the landing, watching as Johanna put her hand on the knob to open it. Together, they took a deep breath. Johanna closed her eyes for a moment, hoping that what she suspected wouldn't be true and opened the door, slowly.
"Is someone in here?" She whispered.
There was no response, just the noise from those that were standing outside.
"Hello?" She asked as she took one step into the cold room.
Still nothing.
Sarah crept up to the threshold, peeking in, her eyes wide as saucers.
"See anything, Johanna?"
Johanna jumped, letting out a scream.
"You scared me. No. There's no one in here. I think it was just the wind." She informed Sarah.
Outside the chanting grew louder, "Murderer. Murderer." They repeated.
"Shut the windows." Sarah told Johanna.
Checking them, each of the windows was sealed tightly, dust and cobwebs lay on the window sills.
"They haven't been opened in a long time." Johanna was confused. There was no reason for the door to have slammed shut all of a sudden. No windows were open. The room was too cold for a hot, summer night. It didn't make any sense to her.
Sarah looked around the room, visibly shaken. She said, "We need t
o get out of here."
When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Johanna looked up at the closed door and asked, "Is this house haunted?"
Sarah hesitated, taking in a quick breath of air.
Milan stood at the top of the stairs, listening to their exchange. He answered Johanna's question, "No, it's not haunted."
Johanna studied both Milan and Sarah's faces. Frown lines shone on both of their faces. There was something that they weren't telling her and she wasn't going to let another moment pass without knowing the truth behind the manor and the tunnel.
"Someone needs to tell me what's going on. I can't help you here, if I don't know the truth. Are you guilty of something?" Johanna hated to ask, but too many strange things had happened and, if her instincts were correct, something much worse was going to happen very soon.
Milan looked at Sarah. She confirmed that she was planning to fill Johanna in on some of what had happened.
"Get to it, then." Milan clapped his hands and retreated back to the bedroom, shutting the door behind him.
"You know," Sarah started, "every family has a history. I'm sure your family has a long standing history. What is it?"
Johanna was instantly annoyed. This wasn't supposed to be a conversation about her life and her family's history. She wanted answers and had grown tired of being given the run around when it came to the secrets about the Merced family.
"No. You're not going to beat around the bush with this. I need to know. My family and our history has nothing to do with whatever nonsense is going on here." Thinking for a moment, she turned around and moved to go back up the stairs. "I'm not going to do this. You people are up to something and I don't like it. I don't think I want to stay here. I'll find another job. This is too much for me. I don't need this."
Milan came out into the hallway, stopping at the landing. "Stop." He ordered her. "What are you doing?"
"Getting out of here." Fear took hold of Johanna. Having him stand there, ordering her to stop, reminded her of why she'd left Indianapolis. A flood of memories of her ex-boyfriend ordering her around and threatening to hurt her, rushed into her mind. Panic set in. She immediately went into defense mode and put her hands in front of her to shield her face from harm.
Paranormal After Dark: 20 Paranormal Tales of Demons, Shifters, Werewolves, Vampires, Fae, Witches, Magics, Ghosts and More Page 349
