by Jenn Vakey
Rilynne felt her jaw drop as she turned back to face them. They both seemed a little amused by her level of surprise, and were actually waiting for it if she read their expressions correctly.
“I mean,” she said, unsure how exactly to phrase what was going through her head. “Just how comfortable are we talking?” she finally spit out.
“Comfortable enough,” Amber said. Her words didn’t answer the question, but the look on her face did. “But that’s enough about that. I’ve picked up food from your favorite burger place in town. I swear you practically live off of these. If Ben wasn’t such a good cook, they’d probably be the only thing you ate. Now, if you want to eat them the way you usually do, there are a couple cups of their ranch dressing in the bag. You like to pour a little on, and then dip the burger in it.”
Not wanting to question her, Rilynne grabbed one of the cups and the plate her mother handed her. After the first bite, she understood why she liked the place so much. Although she didn’t have anything to compare it to, she was comfortable making the assumption that it was the best burger she’d ever had. She ate it so fast that she finished it before either of them managed to eat the first half.
“How was it?” her mother asked, though she didn’t seem to be expecting an answer. Rilynne just grinned and wiped the small drop of dressing off that had landed on her cast. “Now, there are a few things we’re going to need to go over. Since we’re in the middle of eating, that’s probably the best place to start. Assuming your tastes haven’t changed after your latest blow to the head, we can tell you what you like and what you don’t. That should help to prevent any awkward meals.”
It was actually nice to hear a lightness in her tone about the whole situation.
“Should I take notes?”
Elise just sat back and laughed while Amber rolled her eyes and took another bite.
“You’re allergic to blueberries,” she said moments later, ignoring her daughter’s question. “As far as I know, that’s your only food allergy. You love medium rare steaks, almost obsessively so, and you hate seafood. With the exception of canned tuna, you won’t eat anything that comes out of the water. As I’m sure you realized, you love cheeseburgers.”
“You’re a wine drinker,” Elise added. “You like both red and white. You also like light beer. You’d rather have a beer in your hand than a fruity drink any day.”
“It’s so strange,” Rilynne said, listening to their lists. “I know what each of those things are, but I couldn’t even begin tell you what any of them taste like. I don’t even know how to tell you just how weird it is.”
“I guess it’s a little similar to knowing that you’re married, but you have no memory at all of your husband or any of the events that actually led up to you walking down the aisle,” Elise said before shoving the last of her burger into her mouth.
Rilynne thought about it for a moment and nodded. “I guess it’s pretty much like that. I can see his face from the pictures I’ve seen, and I know bits and pieces from the stories everyone has been telling me. I can’t hear his voice, though. I can’t smell him, and I don’t remember how it felt for him to touch me.”
Amber was mulling over her statement before a light bulb seemed to appear. “I think I can help with those,” she said, pushing her plate back and standing up. “At least some of it. Wait here; I’ll be right back.”
Amber hurried past the living room and disappeared through a door at the back of the room. Moments later, Rilynne heard footsteps above them.
“Is there a staircase back there?” Rilynne asked. “I had assumed it was a bedroom.”
“It is,” Elise said. She grabbed the plates from the table and sat them down on the kitchen island. “That’s your master. When you designed the house, you put the master bathroom upstairs, with your own little private sitting room of sorts. There’s a spiral staircase in there that goes up. Ben’s been talking about having it replaced with a small elevator, though. Especially with how clumsy you are, and with the thought of kids in the future. I think he’s worried you’ll end up falling down the stairs.”
Rilynne tried to picture the room. She considered that she wouldn’t ever imagine putting the bathroom upstairs, but then she remembered what Elise had said about it being a design she had created. After dealing with the confusion that caused, she picked up on Elise’s words.
“Kids?” she asked. “We’re trying to have a baby?”
Elise grabbed two bottled waters out of the refrigerator before sitting back down at the breakfast nook beside Rilynne. Before answering, she took a quick drink and let out a sigh.
“Ben wants to, but you’ve been delaying it,” she said. She appeared to be carefully choosing her words. “It’s something that you’ve agreed to put off for a little while so you can enjoy some time just being married.”
She was hiding something. Rilynne could see it in her eyes. Before she could question her on it, Amber walked down the main stairs.
“These should help,” she said. “We got lucky. It looks like there was just enough of this left for the bottle to still be in there. Otherwise, we would’ve been out of luck because I’m pretty sure Ben has this special ordered.”
Rilynne had no idea what she was talking about until she sat a nearly empty bottle of shampoo down on the table. Next to it, she placed a DVD case labeled “wedding”.
“When you first started spending time with Ben, you told me once that he always smelled like peaches,” Amber explained. “When he was framed for murder, it was the smell of peaches found on evidence that actually convinced most people.”
“He was framed for murder too?” she asked. “Was it the same time as when I was?”
Amber laughed and shook her head. “Sadly, no. But if you want to know what he smells like, this is all you need.”
She popped the top open and held it out in front of Rilynne. When she gently squeezed the bottle, a wave of peaches flooded the air around them. Rilynne closed her eyes and breathed it in. It sent chills through her body and caused her heart to race.
“Something’s happening,” she said, keeping her eyes tightly closed. “Not like before. This is different. It’s the smell. It’s like I know it, but I can’t remember anything about it. It’s just... familiar. I can’t explain it.”
She took in another deep breath, not wanting to let the sensation go. It made her heart ache. It was like there was a word on the tip of her tongue that she just couldn’t reach, no matter how hard she tried. She tried to take a third whiff, but she could feel it lessening. The smell was still sweet and strong, but the feelings with it were dissipating.
When she finally opened her eyes again, she had to fight to keep the tears from escaping her.
“Thank you,” she said before motioning to the DVD case. “Is this from our wedding?”
Amber placed her hand gently down on Rilynne’s, as if telling her she understood, then she stood and carried the case into the living room.
“This was from the videographer you hired,” she said, putting the movie in the player. She held the remote out and turned on the giant flat screen television, then walked back and sat next to Rilynne and Elise on the couch. “A good deal of it is from everyone at the reception, but there are some good bits of the two of you.”
Hiding her amazement at the size and quality of the television itself, Rilynne sat back and waited for it to start. Amber fast forwarded through the scenes of laughing and dancing guests, and then stopped just as Ben reached for the microphone.
Rilynne sat back and watch as he talked to the guests before turning to her. She could see what everyone had been talking about. Even with no memories of him, she could hear his love for her through his voice as it sounded through the speakers and filled the room. She watched him for a moment, trying so hard to remember, before she turned her attention to herself. She was so happy. She could almost feel it as she watched them together. When he was finished, Amber fast forwarded again to them dancing.
&nbs
p; When the video was over, she just sat back and stared at the television. It had ended on a picture of Rilynne and Ben dancing, both smiling like nothing could have made them happier in that moment. She didn’t know what to say. Elise and Amber sat with her, but neither spoke.
No one said a word for nearly ten minutes. All eyes were on the picture of the happy couple until Rilynne finally stood.
“I think I’m going to call it a night,” she said, not wanting them to see just how shaken she had been by the video. She’d felt so happy for the couple on the screen, but at the same time so sad for herself. More than anything, her heart ached for Ben. He was out there somewhere, likely wishing for his wife, but she was gone. All that was left was a confused, empty shell of who she used to be.
Amber stood just behind her and rubbed her lovingly on the back, not pulling her hand away until they reached Rilynne’s bedroom door.
“I’ll be staying upstairs if you need me,” she stated. “It’s the bedroom at the front of the house, to the left if you are walking out of the upper part of your room.”
Rilynne thought she was going to reach out and embrace her, but instead she just gave her a warm smile before turning and walking back toward Elise. She closed the door behind her and barely managed to pull the pajamas sitting on the dresser on before dropping down into the bed.
Instead of sleeping on the side that seemed to belong to her, Rilynne curled up on the other and buried her face in the fluffy pillows. The smell of them was almost intoxicating. If she hadn’t known better, she would have thought she was in the middle of a peach field. It had a soothing effect about it, and in no time at all, the room around her faded away.
Chapter Seven
Rilynne felt the sun hitting her face, warming it as she stood in the middle of the long, empty street. Startled, she made to move toward the sidewalk, not wanting to get struck by a passing car, but the notion quickly disappeared when she noticed there wasn’t anyone around. Not a single person.
She didn’t know where she was, but that wasn’t surprising. She could have been on a street she’d driven down three times a day for years and she wouldn’t expect to recognize it. The thing that did catch her attention, though, was the lack of any sound or movement around her.
There were signs that it should have been a populated area, but there wasn’t any hint of anyone around. There weren’t even the animal sounds she would have expected to litter the air. She was completely alone.
As she started moving down the road, she was tempted to walk into one of the approaching houses. Perhaps everyone in town decided to spend the day inside. The more she thought about trying to find someone, though, the more uneasy it left her. It wasn’t that she was afraid to find the houses empty, but more so that she might find something horrible within.
Instead, she stayed in the middle of the road and walked briskly until she found something she recognized. Of everything she could have come across, this was the one place that left her with a sense of relief. Or at least the closest she could get to it.
When she pushed the doors open to the police station, she was almost knocked back by the wave of sounds coming from within. Unlike the streets she had just maneuvered, there was no shortage of people bustling around. Instead, it looked like every member of the force was running around. If not more. The small room, which she would have expected no more than fifty people could fill, held well over a hundred.
“Detective,” the large woman at the desk called out to her, taking the phone from her ear and pressing it into her shoulder. “They’re expecting you upstairs. The meeting is just about to start. You aren’t going to want to miss out on any of it.”
Rilynne stared at her for a moment before nodding and pushing her way through the crowded room. There were so many people filling the small space that it was impossible for her to move without someone touching her. She could feel her breath growing more rapid with every step as her chest tightened from the level of discomfort. She was starting to feel claustrophobic. To her relief, the elevator door was already open and waiting for her when she finally reached it.
Like before, it was as if a heavy curtain had been dropped, blocking out every sound as the doors closed behind her. That is, everything except the music in the elevator. It wasn’t at all what she would have expected. Instead, it appeared to be a romantic song. Though the words spoke of love, the song only repulsed her. She reached out and hit the third floor button several more times, hoping she could will the elevator to move faster. With every press, the music only seemed to grow louder. By the time the doors finally opened again, it was all she could do to keep from screaming.
The homicide office wasn’t quite as full as downstairs, but it was still packed with people. What the officer called a meeting seemed to be more of a briefing than what she’d envisioned.
The walls were all blocked by dozens of white boards, each covered in pictures and notes. She didn’t have to look at them for more than a few seconds to know exactly what the topic was. They were looking for Ben.
“Let’s get started,” Detective Wilcome called out.
The moment he said it, everyone fell silent and took a seat. Rilynne was the last standing as she inched toward her desk and lowered herself into the awaiting chair.
“Again we have found ourselves in the midst a search for Mr. Davis,” he said, a note of irritation in his voice. “I think it’s about time we implanted him with a tracker.”
Everyone in the room broke out into a simultaneous laugh, lasting just three short seconds. Rilynne didn’t see the humor. In fact, the response from everyone else was infuriating. She was just about to speak out when he continued.
“I guess we can’t do that without finding him first. Where are we with the search?”
Matthews jumped up abruptly from his seat. “There’s been no credit card transactions made since he vanished, and we’ve been unable to trace his phone.” The moment he finished his sentence, he dropped back down.
“The first place we always look with these cases is the spouse,” Wilcome stated. “Where are we in determining if the wife was involved?”
Rilynne was shocked by the question. Before she could fully process it, every head turned in one movement toward her. She could feel her face burning, but she tried to push it aside. The eyes that were on her weren’t the friendly ones she’s seen before. Each and every one of them was full of accusations and judgment. As if a compulsory response, she jumped from her seat and took a step back toward the door.
“I had nothing to do with this!” she declared. Her words did nothing to ease the looks she received. It wasn’t surprising. The thing that did shock her, though, was that for the first time since this began, it was something she wholeheartedly believed herself. “Just find him!”
Her words echoed through the room as she turned and ran down the hall back toward the elevator.
She pushed the button over and over, keeping her eyes on the hall to make sure no one was following her. The moment she heard the doors open, she stepped backward into it.
As soon as she lost sight of the homicide office door, she turned to face the elevator. It wasn’t there. Instead, she was standing just inside what appeared to be the back door of a cabin.
“Hello?” she called out, looking around for anyone who could tell her where she was. Just like before, she was alone.
Rilynne considered turning and walking back out, but something pushed her forward. She walked slowly through the house, careful not to make a noise, although it appeared no one was home. The feeling she felt bubbling up within her was much like the one she’d felt walking down the empty street. The only difference was the intensity. What she felt now was almost an overpowering fear. It wasn’t enough to scare her away, though. Ben could be there someone. Nothing was going to stop her from finding out.
Her heart sank with every vacant room she looked in. After checking the last one, she started making her way back toward the door she’d entered. Just before she r
eached it, she stopped and pulled open what appeared to be a closet door. To her surprise, she was met by a staircase moving down into utter darkness.
“Ben?” she called out, just loud enough to echo back toward her. There was no response.
Though every inch of her was telling her to turn around and close the door, she took a step forward and started down the stairs. A dim light surrounded her with each step, not covering more than a foot around her in each direction. It allowed her to see the next step she would take, but nothing more.
When her foot touched the final step, the room around her lit up brighter than the sun outside.
It took a moment for her eyes to adjust. When they did, she found herself in the middle of a clutter filled basement. Standing there, surrounded by old furniture and shelves lined with canned food, she couldn’t understand why she still felt so nervous. It didn’t take her long to figure it out.
Nearly hidden behind a mattress leaning against the back wall was another door. Even resting her eyes upon it made the fear within her reach nearly unbearable levels.
Rilynne turned and looked back up to the door at the top of the stairs behind her, contemplating stopping before she went any further, but a nagging feeling within her kept her from taking a step back. Instead, she took in a deep breath, building up as much courage as she could muster, and moved toward the next door.
Her hand shook as she reached out and twisted the knob. It didn’t get any better when she pushed the door open and stepped into the next room.
The light that filled this one was dull and soft on her eyes. The room looked old, like the rest of the house, although it was far better maintained. In fact, it was one of the cleanest rooms she’d ever seen. The furniture, though dated and worn, didn’t appear to have a trace of dirt anywhere on it.
As her eyes moved around the room, she found yet another door. Not wanting to let the fear have a chance to grow any more, she moved quickly forward and pushed her hand against the swinging door.
Not surprisingly, she found herself in a small hall filled with even more doors. There appeared to be an entirely separate house under the first one she’d walked through.