The Beloved

by Gonzalez, J. F.

  Another officer approached and Laura knew Elizabeth had made the call. She wasn’t going to volunteer that information, though. “Can we go in and take a look, ma’am?” The officer asked.

  “Well, sure,” Diana said, leading the officers to the front door. Laura watched as she unlocked the door and she heard Diana ask the officers where the call came from. She heard one of the officer's say the call came from a cell phone, confirm that the call didn’t come from within the residence, and then they were stepping inside the house. Laura could only stand outside in breathless suspense, wondering what was going on, hoping that something would happen that would make the paramedics take Ronnie to the hospital and take Diana to jail. A police officer approached her and asked if she was related to the woman who lived there and Laura told him she was her son’s girlfriend. “Is that your son’s SUV in the driveway, ma’am?”

  Laura nodded. “Yes.”

  The two officers who had gone into the house came out followed by Diana, who closed the front door behind her. They walked down the driveway and one of the officers said, “Everything’s fine. False alarm.”

  Laura felt slightly dismayed, but she also felt glad that everything was all right. She asked Diana, “What happened? Who called 911?”

  “We don’t know, ma’am,” one of the officers said. He was young, with a military style brush cut and rugged looks. “We’ll try to put a trace on where the call came from. Calling in a false 911 report is some serious business.”

  “So everything’s all right? Where’s Ronnie?”

  “He’s in the living room watching TV,” Diana said, shrugging her shoulders. “He’s fine.”

  Laura looked at the officers. “Everything’s fine?”

  One of the officers nodded. “Everything’s fine. He’s watching TV. Nothing to worry about.”

  Diana headed back to the car. She appeared to be already dismissing the incident.

  Laura climbed into the front seat quickly, still not able to believe the police weren’t doing anything. The ambulance and police cars were already pulling away, and as Diana started the car Laura asked, “Diana, are you sure everything’s okay?”

  “Everything’s fine.”

  “I want to see Ronnie!” The urge to see her son was suddenly overwhelming.

  “Laura,” Diana said, turning to her. Her features softened, her hazel eyes twinkling. Laura was suddenly struck with how radiantly beautiful Diana really was; her skin was flawless, her lips were a healthy red, her eyes deep and penetrating, her hair shimmering and clean. “Ronnie’s fine. Honest, he really is. He’s tired and he’s just hanging out a little bit. He was watching TV when we showed up and he said he was going to take a shower and come to the house later in the afternoon for pie and ice cream.”

  Laura didn’t know whether or not to believe her. “I’d just like to see him for a minute.”

  Diana sighed and Laura could tell she didn’t like the direction this conversation was going. “Do you really think Jerry is going to be okay with Lily and Rick by himself for much longer? You know how he is just watching Lily.”

  Lily isn’t his granddaughter, Laura thought. She knew what Diana was talking about, though. Jerry’s patience with Diana’s kids had been short lately.

  “We should probably find out if Mary is back at the house,” Diana said. She put the car in gear and headed out of the neighborhood.

  “We could call,” Laura said.

  “What?”

  “Your cell phone.” It had suddenly occurred to Laura that if she could get hold of Diana’s cell phone she could try calling Ronnie. “Give me your cell phone and I’ll call the house and see if Elizabeth and Mary are back.”

  Diana passed the cell phone wordlessly to Laura.

  Laura dialed her home and waited until Jerry picked up. “It’s me. Is Elizabeth back yet?”

  “Not yet.” Jerry sounded funny. “I’m just sitting here with the kids.”

  “We’re on our way back. I’m going to call Elizabeth at home and on her cell and see if I can get her.”

  “Okay. I’m just sitting here with the kids.”

  There was something odd about Jerry’s voice. It sounded like he was forcing himself to sound casual. “We didn’t find them at Ronnie and Diana’s house.”

  “I know, honey,” Jerry said, and now Laura could clearly detect the tinge of fear in his voice. “I’ll wait here for you with the kids.”

  And then Laura understood what Jerry was trying to tell her and gooseflesh erupted over her arms as Mary’s voice came to her. They never leave me alone!

  The kids were sitting with Jerry in the living room.

  They weren’t leaving him alone.

  Knowing Jerry, he’d probably already tried to convince them to go outside and play. He’d probably gone about his normal routine of reading a book, watching the game, and fiddling in the basement. And Diana’s kids had probably stayed at his side the entire time.

  Watching him.

  “We’ll be home soon,” Laura said, then hung up.

  They were heading toward Reamstown already and Diana was driving like a bat out of hell. “You going to try Elizabeth again?”

  “Yes,” Laura said, dialing the number and already knowing she wasn’t going to get an answer.

  Nobody picked up the phone at Elizabeth’s house.

  “I’m going to try her on her cell,” Laura said.

  She called Ronnie’s house instead.

  The phone rang once. Twice. Three times.

  It was picked up on the fifth ring.

  She barely recognized the voice on the other end as Ronnie’s. He sounded like he had just run a marathon. His voice was panting, out of breath. “Diana?”

  “Hello honey,” Laura said, pretending she was talking to Elizabeth. “I’m glad I got a hold of you. Is Mary still with you?”

  “Diana? Where are you, why wouldn’t you climb on me when you came in? I’m ready, I’m hard and ready and waiting, just waiting for your hot pussy—”

  Laura held back the gasp that wanted to come out. A cold spike of fear stabbed her heart. She felt suddenly afraid for her son and knew he was in serious trouble and that Diana was aware of it and didn’t care. She knew then that Diana had walked in on something horrible and was hiding it from her. But if that was the case, why didn’t the police see it? Wouldn’t they have done something if they had sensed something was wrong? “Wonderful,” she said, forcing herself to go along with her impromptu script. “I’m sure everything will be okay.”

  “Please, where are you where are you where are you?” Ronnie panted. Laura could hear something in the background, something that had a rhythm, as if he were slapping himself.

  “Yes, we’re heading back to the house. We’ll meet you there.”

  “The house? What house? You’re still at my fucking mother’s house!”

  “Yes, we’re heading over now. We’ll be there in about ten minutes. We’ll see you there.”

  “I want to see you with my dick in your ass!” Ronnie screamed and Laura hung up, shuddering at the sound of her son’s voice, at the language she’d heard him say. She felt embarrassed at having caught a glimpse into her son’s sexual life and she felt afraid for his mental state. He had sounded disturbed, on the verge of a mental breakdown. He needed help.

  “So they’re heading to the house?” Diana asked, a hint of eagerness in her voice.

  “Yes,” Laura said, her mind already racing at trying to come up with another story to explain Elizabeth and Mary’s absence.

  “Good,” Diana said, her voice low and threatening. “I can’t wait.”

  Laura remained rigid in the passenger seat of Diana’s car, more frightened than she had ever been in her life.

  Her son needed help. He was in grave danger. She didn’t know the full extent of what had been going on at that house, but she knew that Diana was responsible.

  She knew now without a doubt that Mary’s story from last month had to be true. Fantastic a
s it was, grotesque as it sounded, Mary saw something she wasn’t supposed to have seen. If Diana realized this Laura didn’t know, but she felt Mary knew Diana and her kids were not who they said they were. She also felt Ronnie was blinded by his love for Diana and had refused to see her for what she was.

  All she could do now was look out the window at the flashing countryside as they sped toward the house, hoping Elizabeth was doing what she thought she was doing.

  Protecting Mary.

  JERRY WAS AFRAID to get out of his favorite chair.

  Lily and Rick were sitting across from him on the sofa. They were watching him.

  When the phone rang the kids had tensed up, as if ready to spring into some kind of action if Jerry said or did the wrong thing. Jerry had just entered the house from the front yard when it rang, and he’d sprinted across the living room to the kitchen to snatch the cordless phone out of its cradle. When he heard Laura’s voice over the line, he felt a momentary tinge of hope. She’d asked if Elizabeth had returned yet, and Jerry told her the truth: she hadn’t; he was just sitting here with the kids. He’d hoped she would get the meaning behind his message, and when she didn’t and had kept rattling on about what she was going to do, he reiterated his predicament. He would stay at the house, just sit in the living room with the kids. That was all he was going to do. When he mentioned this a third time, trying to look and sound as casually as possible, he could detect an ever so slight change of inflection in Laura’s voice. She had picked up on his double meaning. She’d understood.

  Mary’s voice echoed in Jerry’s mind. They never leave me alone!

  Rick and Lily sat across from him on the sofa, staring at him, lifeless like department store mannequins.

  Only whenever he got up to do something they stood up too, matching his every move.

  Jerry avoided looking at them, trying to be casual but knowing he was failing miserably. The way they were sitting there motionlessly, just watching him, was damn creepy. There was something wrong with these kids. They weren’t right.

  When Laura left with Diana for Elizabeth’s house, Jerry had reclined in his favorite chair and started in on the book he’d purchased last week at Borders—a military history of Germany. His instinct told him Mary was fine, that his daughter had taken her away from the house. Jerry wasn’t blind; he knew there was tension between his granddaughter and his son’s new girlfriend. Elizabeth probably wanted to get Mary out of the house alone, away from Diana, to talk to her. He felt this was the case, but he kept it to himself. He’d turned the television off earlier when they’d gone outside to look for Mary, so he had sat down with the goal of getting at least twenty-five pages in before everybody got back home.

  Only Lily and Rick had come into the den at the precise moment he had and plopped themselves down on the sofa when he sat down on the sofa. He thought they were going to turn the TV on and flip through the channels, but they hadn’t done that. When he’d looked up from his book to see what they were doing, he was surprised and frightened to see them staring at him.

  “Why don’t you guys watch some TV,” he’d said.

  No response. They’d stared at him with blank, expressionless eyes.

  Jerry had felt a momentary shade of anger and irritation, and stood up suddenly. Lily and Rick had stood up too, and when Jerry walked into the kitchen he sensed them right behind him. He turned around quickly. “What’s the matter with you!” he’d shouted loudly. “Stop messing around and mind your own goddamn business!”

  Normal children would have flinched at the sound of Jerry’s voice, would have visibly reacted at the intensity of his sudden anger, but these two weren’t. They’d remained impassive, as if they hadn’t even heard it.

  This made Jerry angry. And God help him because he had never raised a hand to a child— even his own —he'd reached out and shoved Rick away from him—

  —and recoiled at the coldness of his skin!

  My God! Jerry flinched back, taking a step back. What are they?

  The conversation he had with Cindy on the day she died flashed through his mind, and he realized now she’d gone to Ronnie’s house to protect Mary.

  Jerry had then turned and headed down the basement steps, his fear propelling him down and through the basement to the sliding glass door that led out to the backyard. Lily and Rick had followed, and he felt his heart lodge in his throat as he turned back quickly, noting with rising terror that their features were still expressionless and blank. They were behaving like automatons, puppets on a string being controlled by something unseen. He’d darted out the sliding glass door and slammed it shut, then ran around the side of the house, his instinct compelling him to get into his truck and get the hell out of his house, but then he’d realized he’d left his keys in the house on the end table by his chair. If he could head back into the house quickly through the front door, maybe he could snag the keys and race back outside before the kids reached the front. He could climb into the truck and get the hell out, leaving them behind. He would call Laura later, he’d—

  The plan was in action when he’d burst through the front door and skidded to a stop, his heart thudding in his chest, as he came face to face with Lily and Rick.

  Who were standing in the dining room, between the kitchen and the living room.

  Where they had been waiting for him.

  For a moment, Jerry forgot to breathe. He’d felt his fear rise, knew intellectually that he shouldn’t be afraid of Diana’s children, but the way they'd followed him downstairs and then suddenly came back up the stairs to meet him as he came in told him they’d known he was going to enter through the front door. And if that was the case, maybe they knew what he was going to do?

  So when the phone rang he dove for it like a man reaching for a life preserver. And when he heard Laura’s voice, he’d wanted to blurt out to her what was going on but sensed the kids tense up, had sensed the imminent danger. As if they were ready to spring at him if he so much as cried out a warning to her. Again, they were just kids—he could knock their heads together with one hand if he had to—but he also knew there was something not right with them. And because he didn’t know exactly what he was up against, he was probably better off playing it safe. Therefore, he headed to his favorite chair as he talked to Laura, feigning normalcy as he sat down, pocketing his car keys as he talked to her and said, no, Elizabeth wasn’t here yet, he was just sitting here with the kids, and finally Laura got the message and they hung up.

  And now they were sitting on the sofa where they had begun this charade, still watching him.

  Jerry’s heart raced as he tried to act casual. He avoided looking at the kids, keeping his gaze on the blank TV screen. Laura and Diana would be back within the half hour, and if he played it safe and casual, nothing would happen. They were just kids, a five-year-old and a twelve-year-old, perfectly normal looking in every way except for the fact that they looked like glassy-eyed zombies following the commands of some unseen leader.

  And the more he thought about that, the more afraid he became...

  ...and the more he thought about other things.

  He thought about the last conversation he had with Cindy on the day she died, when she told him about the threats Diana had made to Mary.

  He thought about how he had believed her the minute he heard it from her and felt the genuine sense of terror in her voice.

  He thought about what Laura’s reaction had been when he’d brought it up to her a few nights later, after Cindy had died. He thought about how Laura dismissed Cindy’s allegations as the ravings of her drug-addled mind. He thought about the fight they’d had that night over this, how he'd insisted there was something in Cindy’s story that was dead-on right and he didn’t trust Diana farther then he could throw her, and how Laura had defended her tooth and nail so fiercely that the passion with which she defended her had taken him aback and he'd let the matter drop.

  The way Laura defended Diana so vehemently had scared him.

&nbs
p; It was as if Diana’s influence had seeped from their son to Laura.

  Jerry glanced quickly at the kids. They remained seated on the sofa watching him.

  Not saying a word.

  They’re not human, Jerry thought, turning away from Rick and Lily so they wouldn’t see the fear in his eyes or notice the tremor in his hands as he picked up his book and pretended to read. They wouldn’t try anything with him sitting on the chair—Laura and Diana were coming back. They were due any minute. They wouldn’t try anything now, they just wanted to watch him and make sure he didn’t try anything.

  They’re not human, he thought again, looking at the open pages of the book but not reading them. Diana isn’t human and neither are her kids. Something isn’t right and I’m goddamned well going to get to the bottom of it when Laura and Diana get back to the house.

  Of course his rational side told him that he was being ridiculous—of course Diana Marshfield was a flesh and blood woman. She was just a manipulative, shrewd, con artist. She had taken Ronnie for everything he had, and she had manipulated her kids into helping her. There was nothing supernatural about her children; they might be bad children, yes. Evil children, of course! But there wasn’t anything unnatural about them.

  He repeated this to himself as a mantra, a way to summon up the courage he knew he would need if he really wanted to finally get to the bottom of Diana Marshfield’s influence and hold on his family.

  EIGHTEEN

  They argued about it all the way home and once there, Elizabeth ordered Eric to go into the house and pack. “Get whatever clothes you have that don’t fit you,” she said, following him into the house. “Mary’s going to need something to wear for the next few days.”

  Mary and Gregg followed her into the house and Mary darted up the stairs after Eric. Elizabeth went into the kitchen and began placing bowls on the floor next to the half-filled bowls of cat food. She reached into the cupboard and pulled out a package of cat food and began filling the bowls.