by Blythe Baker
The funeral ended a little while later, and when the pastor dismissed everyone, Ruth’s family was escorted to the front of the church where they were holding the reception. The other guests quickly followed suit, eager for the chance to give their condolences to the family.
I shuddered. This was the part that I liked the least.
“I should just scoot out,” I said. “I don’t know the family, and I’d be taking their time and energy away from those they know and care about.”
“Alright,” Lucan said. “Then let’s sign the guest book and I’ll walk you out.”
We walked around the line of people waiting to greet the family and stopped at the guest book near the door. In an elegant, swooping hand, Lucan signed his name on the line. He passed me the pen and my cheeks burned.
In my chicken scratch, I scrawled down my own name hurriedly, making sure to leave out my address.
“You can’t wait to leave this horror show too, huh?”
A voice from near the door made me look up.
A man stood there, his shaggy hair hanging in his blue eyes. His beard was patchy, and there was a scar on his left cheek. There was something familiar about his gaze…
“David?” Lucan asked.
The man shifted his gaze from me to Lucan. “I’m sorry, who are you?”
“Dr. Lucan Valerio,” Lucan said, holding out his hand to David. “I was a friend of your mother’s.”
Mother’s? Then this was –
“Everyone was a friend of my mother’s,” David said scathingly, his nose screwing up in frustration. “They’re all a bunch of fakes, coming down here, pretending to cry into their handkerchiefs like they’re actually upset about this, pretending like they won’t go home and forget all about it…”
His words stung even me, and I suddenly felt like running and hiding.
David shook his head. “They shouldn’t fool themselves. They just came here so they could look good in front of everyone else who came…”
Lucan slid his hands into his pockets and regarded David with a curious look. “That’s an awfully cynical way to look at all this. Wouldn’t it be better to think they were coming to support you in your time of grief?”
“They weren’t coming to support me…” David said, glaring past us. “They wanted to see him. Ugh. I need some air…”
He shoved open the door and stormed outside, the sound of the rain slamming against the pavement rushing in before the door closed again, dulling it.
“Wow…” I said. “That was…unexpected.”
“Not really…” said another voice.
I looked over my shoulder and saw another man standing there. He was taller than David, and almost as good looking as Lucan was. He looked like he’d spent his whole life in the sun, with dark eyes and dark, thick lashes.
“Richard,” Lucan said, holding out his hand. “How are you?”
Richard sighed, shaking Lucan’s hand. “I’ve been better, my friend…I’ve been better.” He turned his gaze on me. “I’m sorry, I don’t think we’ve had the pleasure of being introduced.”
Lucan laid a hand on my arm again, so easily that it was like he’d done it before. “This is Marianne Huffler.”
“Marianne Huffler,” Richard said, reaching out to shake hands with me. “I believe I’ve heard Cain Blackburn mention your name recently.”
A dark look passed over Lucan’s face. “Has he now?”
My cheeks colored as I shook Richard’s hand. “Were you Ruth’s fiancée?” I asked.
Richard sighed. I saw that his charcoal grey tie had been loosened somewhat, and there were dark circles under his eyes. I realized he’d been the one sitting up in front of the casket. “Yes, that’s me…” he said, looking down.
“I’m sorry…” I said. “I didn’t mean to bring that up.”
Richard lifted his head and smiled tightly. “It’s quite alright. It’s not like I don’t remind myself of that every waking second.”
“How are you holding up?” Lucan asked.
“Well…” Richard said with a sigh, running his fingers through his dark hair. “I’m hanging in there. It’s strange…since Ruth died, it’s like there’s this gaping hole in my mind. All the peace and comfort I’ve known since I met her just…poof,” he said, shaking his fingers like fireworks exploding from the side of his temple. “I hadn’t realized just how much I’d miss her singing.”
So he knew? He knew that her magic was manipulative, and he was okay with it?
“So…I’m sorry to bring it up, but…what did you mean when David walked out?” I asked. “About his behavior not being unexpected?”
“Oh, that…” Richard said with a sigh. “He’s taking his mother’s death really hard.”
“That much was obvious,” Lucan said, staring out the doors into the pouring rain. David was nowhere to be seen.
“He’s been…well, he was testy before Ruth died, but now he just can’t stand the sight of me,” Richard said. He shook his head. “His biological father, her first husband, couldn’t be here today because he’s in the hospital with a rare liver disease. He was diagnosed with it a few years ago. David wasn’t happy that she was getting remarried, especially when his father was so sick.”
My heart skipped. Would that have been reason for him to kill her? “So things were pretty bad between them?” I asked. “Not to be rude, but I’d heard something about them having a fight about money or something?”
Lucan turned and gave me a sharp look, but I kept my eyes on Richard.
“Oh, that?” Richard asked. He shook his head. “That happened years ago…maybe ten? Fifteen? It was right after he’d gotten out of college, and Ruth wasn’t going to have him turn into a bum living in her basement. They’d put that behind them a long time ago. Actually, David had really started to try and make the effort to see his mom more often lately. It seemed like things were on the mend, and then…” he took a deep breath to steady himself. “I think he just doesn’t know how to comprehend losing her like this…” His jaw clenched. “Neither of us can.”
I frowned, my heart aching for him. “I’m so sorry for your loss…” I said.
Richard gave me another tight smile. “Yes, well…I am, too. Um…if you’ll excuse me, I should probably go see some of the other guests. Thanks for coming, Marianne. And you, too, Lucan.”
“I’ll call you this week,” Lucan said. “We can have lunch or something.”
“That’d be nice, thanks,” Richard said over his shoulder.
Lucan turned his gaze on me, his yellow eyes narrowing. “What are you up to, Marianne Huffler?”
My cheeks burned. “Nothing,” I said automatically.
Lucan clearly didn’t believe me. “I would really appreciate it if we could try to always be honest with one another,” he said in a more serious tone.
I looked up at him. “I’m not sure you’d really want to know…”
He arched an eyebrow. “Oh? Why don’t you try and see?”
I swallowed hard, staring around the room. I debated for a fraction of a second before I decided that I could trust him. He’d probably find out sooner or later anyways.
“Alright…” I said. “But let’s leave here. I don’t think it’s something I should be talking about at her funeral.”
11
I ended up telling Lucan about ninety percent of the story. I told him about the box, and about going to Ruth’s house and finding her dead. I even told him that the box had been stolen from the Blackburns a long time ago. But I didn’t tell him that I suspected Cain.
I chose not to tell him at the very last second because I knew about their tense relationship. I knew Lucan would automatically accuse Cain, and as wise and level-headed as he was, I wasn’t sure I could trust him in regards to his feelings toward the vampire.
That conversation also made me realize I was still willing to protect Cain because I didn’t know the truth, and I knew the only way I was going to get the truth was if I went to
his home and asked him directly. That way I could see his eyes when he answered me. Hopefully I’d be able to tell if he was lying or not.
I knew it was foolish not to tell anyone that I was going there. If Cain for some reason turned on me, would anyone ever find my body? Would anyone even think to look there for me?
Athena begged and begged me not to go, telling me that it could be suicide to step into that house in the first place. When I told her there was really no other way, and that if anyone could get Cain to talk, it might be me, she told me that she wouldn’t let me go alone.
“No, you should stay here,” I said.
Why? She asked. That’s ridiculous. I’m coming with you.
“But if it’s dangerous – ”
If it’s going to be dangerous, then you shouldn’t be going either, Athena said. You aren’t changing my mind.
For some reason, it felt like we’d had this conversation before.
The rain hadn’t let up since the funeral that morning. In fact, it had only gotten worse. A brief check of the weather on my phone showed there was a front moving through off the mountains. There was a severe storm warning, with high winds and record rain amounts expected.
Of course it had to be that night of all nights.
Knowing that my SUV was built for weather like this, Athena and I ran outside, diving into the safe, dry interior, soaked just from the short distance from the door to the car.
Do you really think this is a good idea? Athena asked, stretching herself to look out the window. The weather is really bad…
“It’ll be fine,” I said. “I won’t be able to sleep until I know if Cain is responsible or not.”
But at least we’d be dry and safe…Athena said. And don’t you think you’re obsessing about this a little?
Her words stung, so I ignored them.
I started the car, and found that we could easily drive along the side of the lake. “We’ll be fine,” I said.
Through the downpour, I could just make out the edge of the lake…which seemed to be a little higher than it normally was.
What are you going to do if Cain did kill her? Athena asked as we pulled off the dirt lane and onto the main road leading away from the lake. What if he turns on you and attacks?
“I’m hoping it won’t come to that,” I said, squinting through the torrent of water rushing down my windshield. I could make out the markers on the pavement, and up ahead, I could see headlights of other cars on the road. There weren’t many, though. No one was crazy like I was, trying to go out on a night like tonight.
What is your plan? Athena asked.
“Well…I know that Cain sort of has feelings for me…” I said, my cheeks bright red, regret and guilt washing over me even as I said it. “I don’t want to like…take advantage of that or anything, but maybe because of those feelings, he’ll…maybe he’ll just tell me?”
If Athena could have rolled her eyes, she definitely would have at that moment. I could sense the utter distaste for this whole thing just emanating off of her.
“I know how stupid it sounds,” I said. “But for once, I’d really like things to end nicely, you know? I don’t want anyone else to die, I don’t want anyone else to attack me…especially not Cain. But I can’t leave things like this with him. Cain is a good man, and I really believe that deep within myself. But I…I don’t know if he’d kill anyone. I need to know.”
It was strange to say all that out loud. Since I’d met Cain, I’d been attracted to him, and it was obvious that he seemed to find something in me worth paying attention to. He’d asked me out before, and always made time to talk with me.
“I have to believe that if he’s given me a chance to talk to him before about more serious matters, he will give me the same respect this time,” I said.
That’s reasonable, Athena said. I just hope you’ve gotten the right read on him.
I wasn’t going to argue with that.
Faerywood Falls downtown was almost dead. All the businesses were dark, and there was only one car parked at the gas station, its owner cowering underneath the overhang, pulling his hood up over his head to protect himself from the flooding downpour.
Flooding was an understatement. In the lower dips in the road, water had started to pool. The drains were backed up, and were gurgling as water surged into them.
The stoplight at the street where I had to turn to reach the Blackburn estate was out. A sinking feeling gripped me.
“The power’s out down here?” I asked.
Athena was sniffing the air, but she didn’t say anything in response.
I was starting to regret coming out this far…
I turned down the road and headed toward the base of the mountain, hoping that Cain’s home would be high enough so that the water wouldn’t have risen too much.
My hopes were dashed, though. And quickly.
The road followed alongside a creek. I couldn’t see it through the pouring rain or the darkness, but from my last trip up here, I remembered that some bridges crossed over it a few times on the way up to the estate.
My tires kept slipping on the road, the traction completely giving out, and all I could do was sit there and hold onto the steering wheel for dear life.
I slowed way down, coming almost to a complete stop, the headlights not nearly bright enough to illuminate the night enough for my comfort.
A flicker of movement in front of my car caused me to shout out in shock.
What was that? Athena asked.
I stopped the car, and sat there. The rain pounding against the hood was as frantic as the beating of my heart. “I…I don’t know. Was it a bird or something?”
I don’t know…Athena said. Whatever it is, it’s incredibly stupid to be out in weather like this.
I glared at her. “Yes, thank you, Athena. I understand you’re upset.”
Upset doesn’t even begin to cover it, she said. We should just turn around and go home. Talking to Cain really can’t be worth this, can it?
I stared into the darkness, my heart beating so fast it was making my stomach upset. “Y – yeah. We should just go home.”
The relief passing from Athena’s mind to my own was strong, and I fed on it.
My palms were getting sweaty as I turned my attention to turning the SUV around.
Thunder coursed through the sky overhead, making me jump.
I was never going to go driving in the rain ever again.
Lightning shot through the clouds, lighting up the sky, causing the tops of the trees to stand out in deep contrast.
There were no streetlights on, and the whole world was sunken into darkness.
My heart hammered against my ribs as I turned the steering wheel, urging the car around slowly, ever so slowly.
The road was narrow, though, and before I even reached the shoulder, I knew I was going to have to back up and try to keep turning the car around.
Just take it slow, Athena said in an encouraging tone. There’s no need to rush.
I knew that, but my mind was urging me forward, demanding that I get myself to a safe place.
What in the world had I been thinking? Why hadn’t I listened to Athena when I should have?
I backed the car up, afraid that my bumper would end up in a tree.
The backup camera was completely obscured by the rain drenching the lens, making it completely useless to me, so I stopped short of what I normally would. What probably would have been a three point turn was quickly turning into a seven point.
I put the SUV in drive, and started forward.
But no matter how much I tried to turn the wheel, it wouldn’t budge.
Um…why aren’t we turning? Athena asked.
“I – I don’t know,” I said. I took my foot off the gas…but the car kept moving forward.
It was like I’d been doused in ice water. The SUV kept moving…it was as if it was moving of its own accord.
Panic started to well up in me. “The creek…” I said, br
eathless. “It must be overflowing!”
I pressed down on the gas, but all the tires did was spin.
This wasn’t good. I had no idea what was on the other side of the road. I knew there was the forest, but how deep was the incline into the trees?
“Maybe the grass will help give me some traction,” I said, holding the steering wheel, feeling for the first time in my life that my SUV had betrayed me. “If I can get some traction, we can avoid the water, and – ”
My voice caught in my throat as the car struck something more solid. And then it tipped sideways.
The next few moments happened so fast, but my mind was able to absorb every single thing. It was as if my brain had been tripped into overdrive as I stared out the windshield.
The car slid down a hill, completely out of my control. The tires slid through the slick grass, water gushing around us, urging us forward.
Then there was an enormous splash that shuddered the entire car. It was like I’d struck a concrete wall, or a pool of mud.
With a gurgling sound, the smell of dirty water filtered in through the air filters inside the car. Cold air pressed in against the car, and slowly, we began to sink.
It took me a fraction of a second to realize that the SUV had been dragged into the flooded creek on the opposite side of the road.
Marianne, we’re sinking! Athena cried inside my mind. She scrambled up the back of the car seat, her claws digging into the leather.
I stared dumbly at the windshield, seeing the sloshing water lapping up against the hood, crawling up toward me like the lips of a hungry creature.
Marianne! We have to get out!
I came to my senses. My fingers trembling, I scrambled to unbuckle my seatbelt. The seconds ticked by, and the SUV was sinking deeper and deeper into the water.
Water suddenly surged in through the bottom of the doors, squeezing in like lemon juice being pressed out of its flesh.
I let out a yelp of fear, trying, like Athena, to scramble up the back of the seats.
“Out – ” I said. “We have to get out – ”
I jammed my thumb against the window button, hoping that the electrical system hadn’t been killed by the water yet.