When We Were 8

by catt dahman

  Her track dreams ended, but in her mind, she went out while she was at the top. It would be a decade or more before her records were broken. She had always known that an injury could force her out of competitions.

  Everything in her past was right there in the past where it belonged, and she never regretted anything and never felt guilty. She had some bad memories and the occasional nightmare, but her bad dreams centered on what would have happened if one of those people had fought back: if John Wisdom had killed Nelwynn or if Rex had a weapon. She was only scared when she considered how horrible it would have been if the tables had turned on her.

  She promised herself that when she was a coach, she would care about her students and be there to help them with anything they needed. And she wouldn’t advocate revenge or vigilante justice of any kind because it was far too likely to go the wrong way. She would help by mediating and find better solutions. At least, she hoped she would be that kind of teacher and coach.

  Although it cost her anxiety and tears, Angel applied to and was accepted to Julliard, her dream school.

  The first month she was there, the theater coach told her to drop seventy pounds because Angel had the talent required for work on stage, the determination, a hell of a voice, and a tenacious drive, but her extra weight kept her from some of the choice roles. It wasn’t easy to hear or accept, but no one had ever simply told Angel to drop the weight or told her how. Once she considered the idea, she dropped eighty pounds instead, emerging a few months later as a tiny, fragile-looking young woman with as much devotion to staying thin as she once had for food.

  She worked hard for four years, grabbing the best roles like a bird of prey grasping a morsel of food, clawing and scratching. Afterwards, Angel went to London for additional experience and later appeared in small roles in movies that astounded her seven friends. Her role as a serial killer was particularly well done, and some said it was if she were made for the role; she received critical acclaim and awards.

  She kept her new look of a sexy bombshell as she learned about the use of amphetamines to control her appetite, sleeping pills to make the nightmares go away, and anti-depressants to deal with her anxiety. She bleached her hair white blond, learned tricks and crafts from a voice coach and a public relations manager, and even did a small, tasteful photo-shoot for Playboy.

  Tabloids chased her for her dramatic life and made a mockery of her new persona, but she reveled in being the bad girl because she was truly beautiful and thin. She fulfilled every male fantasy and felt accepted. Finally.

  She seldom dreamed.

  Samantha received her degree in education, as she had always wanted, attending a community college near home. She fast tracked her studies and returned to her hometown to teach at the school she had attended and found that everyone was surprisingly positive about her lifestyle choice, but then no one could deny pretty Samantha anything.

  She lived with a tiny, waifish, quiet woman named Cindy. They met in college and were first close friends, and then, as Cindy expressed deep concern for Samantha without asking what haunted her, only patting her back and rocking her, Samantha fell for her. Samantha never considered herself gay and could have found a handsome man if she wanted, but Cindy’s personality and attitude were what won Samantha’s love. She wasn’t one way or another; she loved Cindy, and that was all. Had it been a man who never asked questions but soothed Samantha, she would have fallen in love with the man.

  For a major in library science, Nelwynn attended the same college as Samantha, but they never socialized. Nelwynn was very much a loner and occupied with her studies, and she worked in the college library. Angel wrote to her and called her, but Nelwynn never returned the calls, screening them, and she never wrote back. After a few months, Angel stopped writing.

  Many nights, Nelwynn screamed herself awake and had vicious, cruel nightmares and memories that haunted her. She felt that some of her friends had not been loyal when they walked away from the beach on the river. They had stopped promoting justice, and Nelwynn didn’t understand that. What were they without a common goal? Her nightmares were of seeing her friends walk away.

  She returned to her hometown as the town librarian and worked part time in Samantha’s father’s church, keeping the accounting books straight. She preferred solitude to another betrayal.

  When Whitney returned as a school coach, Nelwynn avoided her, avoided Samantha, and noticed that Samantha and Whitney ignored one another as well. The three acted as total strangers. When they passed in the hallways, they turned their faces to the walls or looked straight ahead.

  Meg went away to the University of Alabama because the entire school as well as fans had a huge admiration for the band. While she entertained at ballgames with her talent as a majorette, she also studied criminal justice, following in her father’s footsteps. One minute she was dressed in sequins and performing, her face heavy with make-up, and her body on display like a mindless automaton; the next she was dressed conservatively and had her face buried in a textbook about bloody splatter analysis and bullet patterns.

  Immediately after graduation, she returned to her hometown to be her father’s deputy and was a stern, almost unforgiving officer who followed the letter of the law. Several times, her father, Sheriff Connors reminded her to be kind and gracious, but she worked hard and wanted to catch every evildoer in town. She watched and defied anyone in her view to break a law.

  Eight years passed in this way. For some, the years flashed by quickly, but for others, each day was a trial to repress the bad memories and secrets.

  One by one, they were drawn again to their hometown and to the cabin. It called to them. The connections were unbroken.

  They were eight.

  Part II

  Chapter 1

  The attorney, Mr. Delany, was polite and friendly, but as he read Mike Orniston’s will, he frowned often. It was unusual to have a will delayed, but Mike had specifically written into his will that the entire document should be held for eight years, a number not lost on the women who sat uncomfortably in the attorney’s office.

  “As you know, all of you equally own the cabin and land which cannot be inherited by your descendants or spouses, but if you should die, your share goes into the other shares to be owned by the survivors. You can’t will it to anyone. It stays with you eight. The last person alive may will it. We hope that’s a long time coming,” Mr. Delany cleared his throat.

  “I don’t use it,” Cassie said. She looked tired but was in good shape, strong, and fit; her eyes were exhausted though. The stress of being here was horrible, and she hated to look at her friends who looked the same but were older, changed women. Strong women.

  She wore her work uniform: a short denim skirt, high-topped sneakers, and a plain blouse. Cassie had her hair pulled back and wore no makeup, except lipstick, making her look ten years older than she was.

  “Be that as it may, you still own one eighth,” Mr. Delany said as he shrugged.

  “Have you been working hard?” Jill asked Cassie.

  “Always. It takes a lot to sling hash like I do. Long days but decent pay.”

  “Married?”

  Cassie laughed at Jill and said, “ I can’t seem to find a man who works as hard as me. Poor work ethic, I guess.”

  “You need a vacation. Come to New York with me and get a make over. You need it,” said Angel as she smiled brightly.

  She wasn’t sincere, and everyone knew that, but she said it to point out how great she looked. Her teeth were capped, her hair was white-blond and flipped in a new style, her make-up was perfect, and she was wispy-thin. Her clothing was sexy and expensive, and she clearly wanted them to remember she was a movie star now. She fluttered long, manicured nails in the air.

  “No, thanks,” Samantha said. “Cindy and I used the cabin a few weeks ago. It was nice.”

  “No rats to kill?” Cassie snickered. She was aware that Samantha and Cindy would cross the street rather than speak to her.


  “No rats at all,” Samantha said.

  Mr. Delany coughed and continued, “According to the will, you are to be notified of the contents now. I also have a letter Mr. Orinston asked to be read.”

  The women waited.

  My girls. By now you are young ladies. What secrets do you keep? Are you better or worse than those we might have condemned? Only you can know this. I feel that time and difficulties may separate some of you. You must return to the cabin and face your secrets and suspicions. Let the truth be revealed. Once you were eight, and eight you must be again. Be brave as you were one snowy day. Be strong and see who can remain at the cabin and walk away unscathed. Sadly, there will not be eight anymore, but those remaining shall receive my inheritance. Remember, what I am leaving is not only a sum of money, but also a legacy. I leave you a mystery and the truth. Find your way back. Forgive me.

  Uncle Mike.

  “What does that mean?” Meg asked.

  “I think maybe he was losing his sanity,” Mr. Delany said. “I mean no offense, but this is the oddest will I have ever read. There are specific points. He requires that all of you go to the cabin together without partners, spend one week- seven days-and those who stay the full week will receive a large inheritance. It’s a great deal of money.”

  “I don’t need the money,” Angel said.

  “Some of us do,” Cassie responded.

  “And if we refuse?” Nelwynn asked. She wasn’t about to go to the cabin with her former best friends. They had not been close since the day on the beach with margaritas and the pervert, Ed. The axe. She shivered.

  “No way,” Jill agreed, “I won’t.” She didn’t know about Reggie, except she heard he vanished, along with Andre and Julie, and she didn’t want to hear the truth. She was finished with everything. She couldn’t allow the bad dreams to come back.

  She was coming back to work at her father’s clinic, but she didn’t want to return like this. She didn’t want to be around a few of the girls.

  “Again, this is very strange, but I am instructed that if any of you refuse, any, the cabin will be bequeathed to a man Mike named, and I have a letter that I am to give to him.”

  “If just I refuse, then the cabin goes to someone else?” Jill asked, repeating the man.

  “Yes. And I give him a sealed envelope. I suppose if none want the cabin, then it’s easy to say so. You’ll give up a large inheritance and the cabin. That’s your choice. As for the letter….” Mr. Delany shifted in his chair.

  Tiffany gasped.

  “What did he…?” Jill didn’t finish.

  “If all of you remain seven days, I am to burn the letter, unread, and give you a sum of almost a quarter of a million dollars or rather divide the inheritance between all of you.”

  “Two-hundred and fifty thousand dollars?” Nelwynn muttered. “I could use that.”

  “We all could. Student loans,” Samantha said. “Pay off a house. In vitro fertilization maybe.”

  “But he mentions that this is about who remains. Technically, we could go and then leave immediately?” Jill asked.

  Mr. Delany shook his head. “That part is unclear in his letter to you. My papers state clearly that unless all eight of you remain there for the time allotted, you lose the cabin and the rest.” He motioned with his hand, indicating other points, like the money and the sealed letter.

  Tiffany frowned. “But he said….”

  “He states clearly that…ahem,” Mr. Delany cleared his throat. “Only death is acceptable for leaving the cabin before the seven days are over.”

  “Death,” Cassie repeated.

  “As I said, we can challenge this on mental incompetence. It isn’t normal at all to write this,” Mr. Delany told them.

  “May we have a minute alone, Mr. Delany?” Jill asked.

  As soon as he left the room, Samantha pounced. “What did that letter mean? We know everything, right? What secrets? Mystery? Legacy? And what did he mean we might not be eight anymore?”

  “It’s insane,” Jill said. “What does he expect from us there? How can we go back together?”

  “The letter to a man. What’s in that? My God, what if this guy has enough information and does some digging?” Cassie asked. “Shit. I don’t want to go to prison for something long ago.”

  “We’d all be in trouble. For some reason, Mike is blackmailing us to make us return. The money, that’s icing. He wants us to go back. Why?” Jill demanded.

  “I guess we’ll find out. We have no choice,” Cassie said. “What if we challenge it and the letter is read? What is in that damned sealed letter? I know. I bet it’s everything.”

  “Unreal. I can’t believe this!” Angel raised her voice. “Why now? Why are we being punished?”

  “Do you not think we might deserve it? Besides, technically, we are eight best friends who should love going to the cabin, right?” Jill looked at each of the women. She could remember the sting of Meg’s slap, how Cassie helped her, took up for her, but stayed behind, and how Whitney enjoyed the challenges. Samantha, Nelwynn, and Angel were different than before. They all were. It was long ago and like yesterday at the same time to her.

  Nelwynn kept raising her face upwards as if praying.

  “We have no choice. I want to do my seven days, get the money, and forget everything, again. I’m not about to go to prison and have my husband know what we did,” Jill said.

  “Me, either,” Tiffany nodded. “I can survive living with all of you for seven days if Jill can.”

  “Bring it on. It can’t be worse than what we’ve been through before. We’re probably worrying about nothing at all,” Cassie added.

  Nelwynn prayed aloud, and Angel laughed at her as she flipped her hair. “I can slum a week.”

  Whitney and Meg traded glances but nodded.

  “Except for Angel, we’re all about to be living in the same town again, anyway,” Jill said. “Angel is the only one with a career out in the big world.”

  Meg narrowed her eyes at Angel. “I heard no one is hiring her anyway. The tabloids say she’s washed up even if they bother to mention her. Everyone says she’s too much of a bitch to work with.”

  “Shut up. You don’t know,” Angel snapped.

  “Yes, we do. We know that you came to town three days ago and have been working with a realtor to find a house here. Why would you move back when you have Hollywood and New York? Where is the paparazzi that used to follow you, Angel?”

  “It’s my business.” Angel glared.

  “She’s washed up,” said Meg, nodding at Whitney.

  Jill stood and leaned out of the office door to call to the lawyer. As he sat down at his desk, she said, “Mr. Delany, we’re set. Of course, we’ll adhere to Uncle Mike’s wishes.”

  Mr. Delany swallowed hard. He finished telling them the terms of the will. He had never seen such unhappy people, but he was only carrying out what he was paid to do. “Tiffany, I can’t tell you how glad I am to have your husband coming to work in the firm.”

  Tiffany smiled and answered, “It’s time to settle down and have children. I’m ready.”

  Meg fumed as she added, “What a waste of college. You’re just going to have kids.

  “Mr. Delany tried to lighten the mood by saying, “But with this settled, all of you can have the cabin and take your husbands or your partners and your children there.” He stopped.

  He didn’t know what he said wrong, but Cassie, Tiffany, Jill, and Samantha went as pale as milk. Jill took the papers that outlined the rules and rushed out of his office as fast as she could, just behind the other women.

  He saw Jill grasp the doorframe.

  “Jill? Are you okay dear?”

  “Fine. Only tired,” she said. What she was thinking was terrible. There is no way I’d take my children there and let them become the monsters my friends and I became. It’s the reason none of us have children yet, and despite what some said, we just may never have any because….

  ….because we ar
e scared of having children like us.

  Chapter 2

  “What did Mr. Delany mean about specific sales of the land around the cabin?” Cassie asked. She, Tiffany, and Samantha rode with Jill. It almost felt normal as they pulled into the last section of road to the cabin.

  “That was weird. He had the land sold very cheaply and to certain people.” Some unsavory types were allowed to buy the land was what Mr. Delany told them. “Why them?” Jill added.

  “You know why,” Tiffany says.

  “I do?” Jill raised an eyebrow.

  “Because maybe those unsavory types will come around us, and Mike wanted to know we would handle them,” Tiffany said. “It makes absolute sense to me.”

  “Well, I won’t do anything. I’m not about to go back to how we were. No way,” Jill said.

  “Maybe it’s a test,” Cassie suggested. “We don’t have to do anything. We can avoid them. We can call the sheriff. We have Meg, for shit’s sake. She’s the law now, which is funny if you wanna know the truth. The law. Here.” She got her bags out and saw Meg and Whitney on the porch, their feet up and drinks in hand.

  They repeated what they had just discussed.

  “No problems because you’re the law, right?” Jill asked Meg.

  Meg shrugged and said, “I hope not. My dad has always been troubled that so many people went missing when we were in high school. So many kids then and right after. Runaways. Rex and John dying. Dad still talks about how the numbers didn’t match what was expected for a small town.”

  “But then, it all stopped,” Jill said.

  “Not really. People still vanish from here more than the national average. A few. Several about four years ago and since then.…” Cassie went in, dropped her bags, and started making drinks. “People still go missing, Jill.”

  Jill nervously looked at the other women but saw nothing on their faces to indicate guilt. She somehow knew that some of them might never have stopped the revenge.