by Val Crowe
I didn’t have a lot of packing to do, because I hadn’t unpacked much of anything. One of my chairs had been in front of my mother’s motorhome. I had to go over to her place to get it. While I was there, I asked her what we should do about the food. She said she wasn’t sure, and that all the packing up was becoming more stressful than she knew to deal with.
The police had left us to our business. If they wanted to be sure we weren’t camping there, they could have waited and watched to make sure that we left. But they didn’t do that. They told us to leave and then took off.
Now that they were gone, my mother didn’t seem in a big rush. She was inside her motorhome, sipping some hot tea when I went to get the chair.
And that reminded me.
Lily.
She had been possessed the night before. When I’d seen her earlier, she’d seemed okay, but I couldn’t be sure that she was. I needed to go and talk to her and Patrick about that.
So, I headed over to their RV and knocked on the door.
Patrick let me in.
Inside, their TV was paused. Lily was sprawled out on the couch, remote control in hand.
“You guys are watching TV?” I said.
“Well, we’re taking a break in between packing,” said Patrick. “I think we’re both overwhelmed. Oscar is dead.”
I shoved my hands in my pockets, nodding. “Right. Oscar got you guys on this path in the first place.”
“Well, we went to him about Molly,” said Patrick.
“I was a fan of his podcast,” said Lily.
“But, um, he did suggest we come here,” said Patrick. “And now, I don’t know, I wonder if he planned all of this so that he could kill himself.”
“I don’t think he killed himself,” I said.
“What?” Lily sat up straight. “So one of us did it?”
“The ghosts did it,” I said. “Do you remember what happened last night?”
“Me? Remember what?” said Lily. “We had the seance. I went after Molly. What else is there to remember?”
“You came to my trailer in the middle of the night,” I said. “But it wasn’t you. They were inside you, controlling you.”
“Wait, what?” said Patrick. He took me by the shoulder and turned me to face him. “What are you saying?”
“I think we need to make sure your sister is okay,” I said. “That’s all.”
Lily shook her head at me. “I’m fine.” She got to her feet and came over to me. “I think you were dreaming. Maybe you dreamed the whole thing.”
“No, look,” I said. “Lily took me out into the park, and then she… she knocked me out.” That was the easiest way to explain it. “When I woke up, I was in that maze, and Oscar was there too.”
“Sounds like sleepwalking,” said Lily.
I licked my lips. “We need to be sure that the spirits have left you. Because if they’re still inside you—”
Lily put her hand on my arm.
Suddenly, I couldn’t remember what I had been about to say. I floundered, confused.
“Lily, seriously?” said Patrick. “Are you sure you’re all right?”
“I’m fine.” She laughed brightly. “I’m great. I really think it was all a dream for Deacon. Don’t you, Deacon?”
I bobbed my head. “Yeah, must have been a dream,” I said faintly. I turned to Patrick. “Sorry for worrying you. This is the last thing you need on top of the death of Oscar. I’m very sorry for your loss.”
“Thanks,” said Patrick. “It’s not an easy thing to face.”
“No,” said Lily. “It’s not.”
Patrick put his arm around his sister.
“Well,” I said, “I’m going to get going. I need to pack too.”
“Sure thing,” said Lily, smiling at me.
I left their RV. I still felt a little confused. I tried to remember why it was I’d gone in there at all, and I couldn’t. Everything seemed a little bit fuzzy and strange. I stopped in front of the Airstream. I had been planning to go inside.
But instead, I turned on my heel and walked into the park.
I wasn’t sure that I wanted to leave.
See, I’d come here because I needed to find information about Negus. I had been promised answers by the spirits in this place. And the spirits were screwing with me. They needed to tell me what I needed to know. In fact, I didn’t think I was going anywhere until they did. If I had to hide the Airstream somewhere where the police couldn’t find it, so be it.
I would stay until I knew everything.
Negus.
He was what was important. The only thing that was important.
And yeah, okay, it was awful that Oscar was dead. I was upset about it, especially because I was pretty sure it was my fault. The spirits had hinted they did it for me.
But they should have known better. I didn’t want Oscar dead. I wanted to know about Negus. So, once I got them to understand what they needed to do for me, then things should go more smoothly.
It did seem as if they wanted to appease me, after all. They knew that I had power. They liked me. They wanted to make me happy. They were just going about it in the most stupid of ways. I would make sure to communicate to them their error, and then I would get what I needed from them.
I stopped walking when I got back to the maze. I looked at it, and it didn’t seem creepy or disturbing anymore. It only seemed small and tired. I walked past it and kept going until I got a sudden urge to turn left.
The lane I was turning onto wasn’t one of the main thoroughfares for people to walk on. It was narrow, threading behind The Octopus. It dead-ended at a small structure, like a shed, but half of the size. On the front of it, there was a heavy chain and a lock. It was undone.
I reached out and took the chain and lock. This was lucky.
Yeah, this was incredibly lucky. What were the odds that I would have found this? And not just found it, but seemed to walk right over to it, as if I had known it would be here? Well, whatever, it was a break.
Whistling, I took the chain and lock with me and walked as briskly as I could out of the park. I couldn’t go as quick as I liked. The lock was pretty heavy. And I had a ways to walk to get back out to the parking lot. By the time I got there, I had shifted the chain, so that it was hanging over my shoulder. I was carrying the lock.
No one was outside.
That was lucky too.
Still whistling, but quieter now, since I didn’t want to disturb anyone, I headed up to the top of the parking lot, where the gate was. The police had left the gate open, probably to make it easier for us to leave when we were ready.
I closed the gate.
Then I wound the chain around and around the gate, securing it against the fence. When I was happy with that, I threaded the lock through two pieces of the chain and I snapped the lock shut.
There.
No one was leaving now.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“What the hell?” The angry voice was faint, as if far away. I heard it from inside the Airstream. I’d been lying on my bed, resting. I felt as though I needed to make up my sleep after last night. I hadn’t gotten a lot of rest. But I must have slept a long time. Now, the light coming through the windows of the Airstream was faint and growing dark. It was dusk.
I sat up on my bed and stretched and yawned.
I felt my chin. Probably would need to shave later. I could do it now, but it would look weird if I didn’t respond to the person who was yelling.
I was pretty sure I knew why the yelling was happening. I took a deep breath, summoning my most indignant expression. I ducked into the bathroom to check it out.
Yeah, that looked pretty convincing. No one should suspect me.
By the time I made it up to the gate, my mother had already gotten there. Patrick’s and Lily’s RV was idling in front of the gate. I guessed they’d been in the process of taking off.
Patrick was standing in front of the gate, shaking the lock as if he was going to b
e able to yank it open or something.
Yeah, let him try. That thing was sturdy. It wasn’t going to open any time soon. He’d better make his peace with that.
Inwardly, I smirked.
But outwardly, I put on a concerned face. “Hey, what’s going on?”
Patrick turned to me. “The gate’s locked, that’s what’s going on. You know anything about this?”
“Locked?” I said.
He yanked the lock up, rattling it against the chains. “You see?”
“Oh, whoa.” I pushed Patrick out of the way to pick up the lock myself and shake it just as he had done.
“You think I haven’t tried that?” he said to me, annoyed.
“How did this happen?” said my mother. “I don’t even remember there being a lock here when we came in.”
“There wasn’t,” said Patrick.
“Are you sure?” I said. “I don’t remember paying much attention myself.”
“Even if there was a lock here, the gate was open,” said Patrick.
Lily hung back, surveying everyone. She turned to me and gave me a knowing smile.
I smiled back.
But then Patrick was looking at me, and I wiped the smile away. Instead, I called forth the indignant expression I’d been practicing. “How could this happen?”
“That’s what I want to know,” said Patrick.
My mother spread her hands. “Well, don’t look at me. I don’t know.”
“Did the ghosts do it?” said Patrick to me. “You said that the ghosts killed Oscar.”
“What?” said my mother. “When did you say that, Deacon? Why do you think so?”
“I was dreaming,” I said. “I guess I got confused. Oscar must have been really depressed.”
“He didn’t really seem depressed,” said Patrick. “He was really eager to come here. But maybe that was his plan, I don’t know. I don’t like to think about killer ghosts, but we don’t know what happened to my sister. And now, we’re locked in here—”
“Let’s not panic,” said my mother. “Maybe the police did it on accident, when they left.”
“No,” said Patrick. “I remember. They left the gate open.”
“You sure?” I furrowed my brow. “Why would they do that? That would be an open invitation for people to come inside.”
“They wouldn’t have locked us in,” said Patrick. “They wanted to us leave.”
“They wouldn’t have locked us in on purpose,” said my mother. “But maybe they did it out of habit or something.”
“There was no lock here!” Patrick said. “I’m telling you.”
“Okay, okay,” said my mother. “Well, it doesn’t matter, does it? The fact of the matter is, all we have to do is call the police, and they’ll let us out. I’m sure they can get that lock open. Maybe they even have a key.”
Patrick considered this. Then he let out a loud breath, his shoulders slumping. “Okay, I guess you’re right.” He got his phone out of his pocket.
“Do we need to call them now?” said Lily.
“Yeah,” I said. “Maybe we should wait until morning. I mean, we still have all that food that my mother bought, and I know I could stand a good meal and a good night’s sleep before I try to hit the road.”
“We can’t hit the road,” said Patrick. “We have to stay in town, that’s what that cop said.”
“Right,” said Lily. “So, we’d have to sit here and wait for the police to come and open the gate. Then go and check in to the campground that the detective told us about. And then try to get something to eat? What’s even going to be open by then?”
“It’s not going to hurt to stay another night,” I said.
“Well, I don’t mind cooking something,” said my mother.
“You packed everything up already,” said Patrick.
“Oh, it won’t be that hard to unpack,” I said. “We’ll all help. And we’ll help cook too.”
“We could have a memorial for Oscar,” said my mother. “We’re all in shock. We’re all grieving. It probably would be best if we stayed put for tonight. We can call the police in the morning.”
Patrick shrugged. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt anything. If you really don’t mind cooking—”
“We don’t,” I said.
“Well, I’m kind of starved,” said Patrick.
* * *
I figured it was better if everyone else relaxed, so I did most of the unpacking and cooking. When I needed assistance, I asked Lily for help. We were on the same side. I could see that now.
I was a decent cook myself, and I soon had a nice meal coming together. I did chicken breasts on the grill. I would have liked to marinade them, but we hadn’t had time, so I liberally brushed them with seasoned oil every so often, just to keep them from drying out and to add flavor. I also grilled up some zucchini, seasoning them with the same oil. And then I heated up some bread in foil on the grill—both gluten free and wheat bread. We ate that sliced thickly with butter.
While I was cooking, I made sure that everyone had beer or wine or gin and tonics and I prompted my mother to start talking about Oscar. Soon, everyone was boozily talking about their feelings.
“I had barely gotten to know him before he was gone,” my mother said. “I still don’t know how to wrap my head around what happened to him.”
“He was a good guy,” Patrick said. “He was so helpful when we went to him and told him our story. He would have done anything to help us find Molly.”
You mean your mother’s jewelry, right? That’s all you care about, Patrick, I thought wryly, but I kept my mouth shut.
When the food was finished, I sat down to eat and drink with everyone else, and I had to admit that things felt incredibly nice now. The food was good. The alcohol was flowing. There was a pleasant heat coming from the grill. It was good here. Very, very good.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
It didn’t take too long for everyone to head to bed, probably because I had pushed everyone to drink a little more than they typically would have. It may have also been the stress of the day. It wasn’t an easy thing to go through, a horrible death like that. Everyone needed rest, and they all went off to their beds.
While they all went to bed, I went into the Airstream and shaved.
I waited until the lights were off everywhere, and then I crept out of my Airstream and went over to Patrick’s and Lily’s RV. I tried the door. I didn’t figure they would have bothered locking it, and I was right.
I eased the door open. I was glad it was a newish RV. The door was soundless as it opened.
Carefully, I stepped inside.
Their RV was set up with a living area on one side and the kitchen on the other. On one end of the RV was the closed-off master bed, which was where Patrick was sleeping. On the other end, there were two berths with bunk beds. Lily was asleep on the bottom bunk. She lay on her side, her eyes closed, her lips slightly parted.
I went over to her and looked around on the floor around the bottom bunk. There was nothing there.
Lily stirred, though, rolling onto her back, flinging one of her arms up above her head.
I froze, waiting for her to open her eyes. I wasn’t sure how she’d react to seeing me. Maybe it wouldn’t be a problem. I had thought before that she was on my side. But what if I was wrong? What if she wasn’t? What if I had simply been seeing what I wanted to see when it came to Lily?
Moments passed. She didn’t move.
I knelt down next to her, slowly, slowly. Carefully, I slid my hand under her pillow.
She made a little noise.
I stopped moving.
I waited.
Then I began to move my hand around. There was nothing under her pillow either. Carefully, I removed my hand and straightened as quietly as I could. I looked on the top bunk, even though I couldn’t see why she would put anything up there.
That was when I spotted the glowing red lights on the kitchen table.
Jackpot.
There were both of them. Her cell phone and his. They were charging together right on the table there.
I smiled. I crept back to the table and unplugged each of the cell phones. I put them in my pocket.
That done, I left their RV and went over to my mother’s.
I didn’t have to search in hers. I knew that she always kept her cell phone in her purse, in the front pocket there. The purse was sitting on the counter in her kitchen, and the phone was also there.
I got it out easily and left her motorhome.
Then I went over to the fence that surrounded the park. I dropped all the cell phones on the ground, including mine. If I left mine intact and they found it, it would look suspicious. When I tossed my phone on the ground, I noticed that I had several missed calls from Wade. Oh, well. Best to leave Wade out of this.
I began stepping on the cell phones, grinding my heel until the screens broke and the phones snapped. I kicked them and jumped on them and crunched them and crunched them.
Once they were all demolished, I surveyed my work and felt pretty good about it.
Who would have thought that phones would be so easy to break?
* * *
I could have gone into the Airstream after that, but I’d slept all afternoon, so I was kind of wired. Instead, I went for a walk in the park. I had an idea that maybe I’d see one of the ghosts and I’d force them to give me some information on Negus.
Then, armed with that knowledge, maybe I’d go wake up my mother and find some way to force her to admit that she remembered what had happened.
Yeah, that sounded like an excellent idea.
I smiled, feeling confident.
It was funny, because when I’d arrived here, I hadn’t felt so great. I mean, I hadn’t been down in the dumps or anything, but compared to the way I felt now? Man, I was riding the edge of triumph. I didn’t think I’d ever felt so alive and in charge. It was pretty amazing. Maybe my whole life, I’d been living in some kind of muted, gray world, and now here I was, waking up to the colors.