by Amy Cross
Annie hesitated, before taking a stumbling step forward. Her hands were shaking, and out of the corner of her eye she could see that Elly too had stood up, and that in the mirror Elly was now stepping closer.
Reaching out, Annie grabbed the side of the desk, using it to support herself.
“Maybe we should go back to Lakehurst after all,” Elly suggested. “Look for some more clues there. Lakehurst's where it all started, remember? All roads lead to Lakehurst. If we go there, and if we climb down into the mines, we might be able to figure out some more information about the entity. Maybe it left some scratches on the rocks, something we can interpret. You never know how small the clues might be, but I bet there are some up there.”
“Maybe.”
“And that'd help us figure out how to help Katia.”
“Maybe.”
“Or maybe some of the ghosts know something. We could try talking to them, to all of them.”
“Maybe.”
Annie looked down at the TV that stood on the desk.
“Or maybe,” Annie whispered, “we'd just end up like all those ghosts we saw. Like Amanda.”
“We'll go back to Lakehurst,” Elly continued, “and we'll find the answers there. And we'll go together, Annie, because we're a team. We've come this far, and we so nearly kept Katia safe. It's obvious that the answers are at Lakehurst, so we just have to go back there and take the place apart. Maybe it'll take a little time, but it's our only choice. We'll find all the secrets that are hidden up there and then somehow they'll show us what we have to do next. There's no point going anywhere else, not right now. We have to go and look at the ruins, and we have to speak to all the ghosts. We won't leave a single stone un-turned. It's settled.”
“Maybe.”
Slowly, Annie unplugged the TV and picked it up. She could barely handle the weight, but after a moment she managed to take a stumbling step backward.
“Don't falter now, Annie,” Elly said. “We have to work together. Focus and stay calm. Annie, you can do this. You just have to stay strong.”
“I know,” Annie replied, gritting her teeth. “The problem is, I don't need you to tell me that anymore.”
Before she could finish, Annie turned and threw the TV at the mirror. In the last split-second, she saw Elly's face staring back at her, but then the TV smashes against the mirror's surface and the glass shattered. Stepping back, Annie watched with horror as the entire mirror came crashing down onto the desk along with the broken TV.
“I have to do this properly,” she said, her voice trembling with fear now as the last glass pieces slid across the desk and fell to the floor. “That means seeing everything as it really happens. And it means not going back to Lakehurst, because Lakehurst's the past. I already know where I need to go. I need to find Eldion House.”
***
Hurrying out of the motel room, Annie continued to look through the dead man's wallet. Opening one section, she found a surprisingly large amount of cash, maybe close to five hundred dollars. Then she stopped and fumbled with the car keys, before pressing a button on the side. Nearby, a truck's lights flashed as its door was unlocked. Annie took a step closer, and then she stopped again as she spotted movement nearby in the darkness.
Over by the side of the motel, two men were huddled in the shadows. Annie watched them for a moment before she understood that they were doing a drug deal. And then, with a sudden idea having flashed into her mind, she looked back down at the money in the wallet.
Chapter Eighteen
After bringing the truck to a stop at the side of the dark road, Annie leaned back in the driver's seat and took a deep breath. She'd been on the road for a few hours now since leaving the motel, but she had no idea where she was going. She'd tried in vain to unlock the phone she'd taken from the dead man's pocket, which meant that she had no way of checking where Eldion House might be located. And deep down, she had a suspicion that even Google might not be able to help her. For a moment, she had no idea how she was ever going to come up with an idea.
The truck's gas indicator was flashing. There was enough gas for another half a mile at most.
She felt tempted to start talking out loud, to ask Elly for advice. She was fairly sure that she could conjure Elly back up, and that she'd be able to use her imaginary friend to generate some options. At the same time, she also knew that she had to stay focused, and that she needed to see things clearly. Elly had been a form of filter, and that had been useful at the time, but now she was determined to draw back from the madness and stop imagining things. Unfortunately, her mind felt blank and she had no idea what to do next.
“Why don't we -”
“No!” she blurted out, cutting off Elly's voice before it could finish that sentence.
Sitting in silence, she waited to make sure that the voice wasn't about to return. Terrified of sinking back into that particular type of madness, she imagined herself building a wall in her own mind, locking Elly Blackstock away so that she could never speak again. As the seconds ticked past, she began to welcome the silence that was now filling her thoughts.
And then, as if from nowhere, an idea popped into her head.
She flinched, hating the thought, but already she knew it was her only choice. She knew she'd have to carry out the procedure right there and then, sitting in the car, and part of her worried that she'd end up bleeding out. Nevertheless, she understood that this was a risk she'd have to take, so she slowly reached up and touched the side of her head, reaching her fingers under her damp and matted hair until finally she felt the edges of metal poking out from where she'd once slid them under her scalp. The metal was designed to keep the entity's voice out, but at this moment she knew that hearing the entity's voice might be her only option. After all, so far the metal had managed to trap her in a world of her own thoughts.
Her fingertips pulled gently at the first piece of metal, using its edge to re-open the wound that had healed over the years, and then slowly she began to slide the metal out.
Flinching as she felt a flicker of pain, she leaned forward and let out a brief gasp. She'd known that this procedure would be uncomfortable, but the pain had been electric and for a moment she wasn't sure she could continue. She quickly realized that she had no choice, however, so she began once more to start pulling the metal out. There were several sheets under her scalp, and she had to remove them all, so she worked slowly and steadily even as she felt the first bead of blood running from the wound.
***
Annie's feet crunched against the cold grass as she stepped away from the truck. No other vehicles had passed for a few minutes now, leaving the roadside dark. That was good, because it meant she could look up and see a vast range of stars filling the sky above.
As she tilted her head, she felt more blood dribbling from the various slits. She'd tried to remove the metal from her head, but in truth she'd barely even managed to tug on the first small sheet. The pain had been too intense, too powerful, and she'd come to realize that she'd only end up passing out if she even tried. Now she was wandering away, having abandoned the truck once she'd realized that she was almost out of gas.
I need a miracle, she kept telling herself. I need help.
Every second she felt the urge to talk to Elly again. Part of her thought that just by letting Elly return, she'd be able to come up with some kind of idea. She almost heard Elly's voice a few times, at the edge of her mind, as if her old friend was begging to be allowed back into her thoughts. The idea was so tempting, but Annie continued to resist. Still, as she stumbled and almost fell, she was starting to think that she was almost at the end. Finally she dropped to her knees, and she began to wonder whether she'd ever be able to get up again.
I've failed, she realized. I tried, but I failed.
She bowed her head.
Tiredness was taking hold now. She knew that if she allowed herself to sleep, she'd probably never wake up again. She'd collapse in a muddy field and die right there, and it migh
t take days or even weeks for her to be found. Animals would eat her carcass, or at least strip most of it away, and there'd probably be little of her left except a few bones. And after all, she reasoned, wasn't that what usually happened to crazy people? She'd heard stories of people being found dead after years and years of trouble, and now she wondered whether she'd end up the same way. Eventually her body would be found, and people would wonder what she was doing in the field.
And then, just as she was about to give up, she spotted a flicker of light in the distance.
Turning, she looked back through the darkness and saw a set of car headlights slowing next to the abandoned truck. She blinked, convinced that she had to be imagining things, but the car came to a stop and then – leaving the headlights on – a figure climbed out and began to walk toward the truck. Annie watched, waiting for the illusion to fade, but then slowly she realized that she might be seeing something real.
A miracle.
***
“Ordinarily I'd have a spare can in the back,” Richard explained as he opened the driver's-side door to his car and then turned back to Annie, “but tonight I'm all out. It's about twenty miles to my place, so it'd take me a good while to get there and back. Are you sure you don't wanna jump in and come for the ride? I'd feel bad just leaving you here on the side of the road.”
“I...”
Annie hesitated as she realized that there really was no point simply standing around in the cold.
“I mean,” she stammered, “I suppose there's no reason why I have to...”
“What did you say you were doing out here again?” Richard asked, furrowing his brow slightly. An older man, in his fifties or maybe even early sixties, he'd seemed friendly enough so far, even if Annie remained alert for sudden danger. “It's gone midnight. This part of the state isn't very busy, if you know what I mean, but it's still not a good idea for a young woman to be wandering around all on her lonesome. Don't you have any family worrying about you?”
Annie opened her mouth to reply, but for a moment she said nothing.
Instead, she stared at the man and tried to work out whether or not he was real.
After all, his sudden arrival seemed like a genuine miracle, and she'd learned to not necessarily trust what she saw and heard. Part of her worried that Richard was another Elly, another figment of her imagination, but she also feared that maybe he was a very real, very dangerous trap. She couldn't help wondering whether he might be from one of the cults, although if that had been the case then she supposed he'd simply have killed her by now. She also knew that she wasn't really very important now, which meant that none of the cults would even bother searching for her. They'd have either killed her by now, or abducted her.
“There's no-one waiting for me,” she said finally. “Like I told you, I don't have a phone anyway, so it's not like I could call anyone. That's okay, though. I like it like that.”
“Please,” Richard replied. “In all good conscience, I don't think I can just leave you out here while I go and fetch some gas.” Smiling, he held his hands up. “I'm not a serial killer, I promise. I'm just a friendly guy who doesn't want to leave a young lady shivering on the side of the road. You can understand that, can't you?”
Reaching into his pocket, he took out his wallet and flipped it open, before holding it out so that Annie could see a photo.
“That's Carrie, my wife,” he explained. “She'll make a fuss of you, I promise. She won't let you keep those wet clothes on, for a start. She sorts items for goodwill, so I guarantee she'll have something that fits you. She'll insist on feeding you, too. We had stew for dinner and there's plenty left over. Unless you're one of those vegetarians, in which case... Well, I reckon she'll still manage to rustle something up, and it'll probably be the best food you've ever tasted in your entire life. So what do you say? Will you accept a little well-intentioned hospitality on a cold night?”
“I -”
She was about to politely turn him down, but somehow the words stuck in her throat. And as the seconds passed, she realized that maybe there'd be no harm in accepting a ride. There was part of her that still worried about the dangers, of course, but that part was for once being drowned out by sheer exhaustion. She figured that if she actually allowed herself to rest for a few hours, her mind might become much sharper and much more able to deal with everything that had been happening.
“Sure,” she said finally, “thank you. I just... I just need to grab some things from the truck, and then I'll come with you.”
***
“I've got a daughter,” Richard explained as he turned the car off the road and started driving along a dirt track, heading toward some lights in the distance. “Her name's Clarice, she must be about your age. She's off in California, working at one of the schools. She doesn't get home very often these days. Haven't seen her in eleven months now.”
Struggling to stay awake, Annie felt the car's rocking sensation starting to send her to sleep. Even now, she felt she had to concentrate in order to keep Elly out of her thoughts, and to leave open the possibility that the entity's voice might reach out to her. At the same time, she was on the verge of nodding off.
“She calls, though,” Richard continued. “Once a week, every Saturday. She calls on the computer. My wife handles the technical side, I don't really understand how it works, but we can see her on the screen. It's like a video call, comes over loud and clear from all those miles away. I'm sorry, I really shouldn't talk about her too much, but I guess at heart I'm just like any other proud father.”
Annie felt her eyes slip shut, and this time she couldn't open them again. She was too exhausted, and she felt as if she might never be able to re-open her eyes.
“I don't pretend to understand the modern world,” Richard said. “And I don't need to, really. Not beyond this farm, and the town along the road. I leave the world alone, most of the time, and I appreciate the world affording me the same privilege. I just want to get on with things for as long as I can. I guess a young lady such as yourself can't really understand that, or maybe you can? People get so angry these days. Why is that? Why is there such rage in the world?”
“I don't know,” Annie murmured, although the words barely left her lips. Her eyes were still closed, and she was long past the point where she might jolt awake, even as she dimly felt the car coming to a halt. “I really don't know...”
She tried again to open her eyes, but she was already drifting down into sleep. A moment later she felt someone reaching under her and then lifting her out of the car, and then she felt and heard herself being carried across a gravel driveway, but she was powerless to resist. She slipped into a deep sleep, so deep this time that there weren't even any nightmares.
Chapter Nineteen
Morning sunlight streamed through the curtains, catching the flowers that stood in a vase on a bedside table. Annie's eyes flicked open, but it took several seconds before her mind caught up and she began to wonder what had happened.
Looking down, she found that she was in a large double bed.
She sat bolt upright, and at that moment she noticed the aroma of coffee and baking. She blinked several times, too scared to move, but then slowly she became aware of distant chatter. It took a few seconds before she realized she could hear a radio somewhere else in the house, accompanied by occasional bumps and clattering sounds that seemed to be coming from a kitchen somewhere downstairs. And then, after that, she heard some metallic clanging sounds coming from somewhere outside. In the distance, a rooster crowed.
Getting to her feet, she began to make her way to the window, only to stop when she realized she was wearing some kind of nightgown. Clean and ironed, the nightgown was plain with the exception of an embroidered rose motif on one side of the chest, and the hem hung all the way down to her ankles.
Once she was over that shock, Annie headed to the window and pulled the drapes open, and then when she looked outside she saw that Richard was working on what looked like an ol
d engine. After a moment he glanced up at her and waved.
Not really knowing how else to respond, Annie waved back at him.
***
“So your clothes are drying,” Carrie explained as she set a plate of food on the table in front of Annie, “but they'll take a while, even in this sun. I managed to get all the stains out, but I won't be able to darn the torn sections until this afternoon, on account of having to wait for everything to dry. Don't worry, though. I don't believe in throwing things away when they can be fixed, so you'll have that lovely dress back before you know it. It'll look brand spanking new!”
Staring at the plate, Annie marveled at the sight of bacon and sausages and eggs and hash browns and a grilled tomato and even some mushrooms and beans. She couldn't remember the last time she'd seen such a huge meal. Living alone for the past few years, she'd mostly just eaten food with a fork directly out of cans, grabbing whatever was closest when the hunger became too strong to ignore.
“Now did you say you wanted tea or coffee?” Carrie continued, heading back over to the counter. “Ricky and I don't really drink tea, but we always like to keep some around the place, in case of visitors. If you ask me, tea's just flavored water, but there you go. Some people like it.”
She turned back to Annie and smiled.
“It's up to you, honey,” she added. “You can have whatever you want.”
She waited, still smiling, as Annie stared at her with a growing sense of unease.
“How about some juice?” Carrie suggested finally, heading over to the refrigerator. “I know some people prefer juice in the mornings.”
“Where am I?” Annie asked, her voice sounding harsh and damaged.
“Where are you?” Carrie took a bottle of juice from the refrigerator before swinging the door shut and turning to her. “Oh, my poor little thing, you were exhausted last night, weren't you? I don't think I've ever seen anyone look so tired. You could barely even make it up the stairs.”